Masks, lockdowns, closed shops and schools: how long did they serve?

We stayed months and months at home, we stopped going to work in the office and having lunch at the restaurant, the children learned to follow the lessons via dad, the masks became our second skin. But how long did all this serve?

A study posted on MedRxiv and conducted by the major European research centers (Oxford, Imperial College London School of Economy, Bristol, Copenhagen and Essen) on data collected in 7 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, England, Italy, Holland, Switzerland) evaluated precisely “the effectiveness of “non-pharmaceutical” interventions of governments in Europe against the second wave of Covid-19 ».

Shops and restaurants
The closing of shops it was particularly effective, because reduced Rt, the virus replication index. That of restaurants, pubs and cafes by 12%, just like that of night clubs. The Rt index decreased by 12% also thanks to the closure of those businesses where customers and workers are in close contact, such as hairdressing shops and beauty salons. On the other hand, banning leisure and entertainment venues such as zoos, museums and theaters had a minimal effect, estimated at around 3%.

The ban on gathering with friends and family had a big impact: the 26% reduction in Rt. In total, banning meetings and shutting down all non-essential activities resulted in a total reduction in Rt of 52%.

School
Observational studies on the first wave consistently found that school closures were among the most effective ‘non-pharmaceutical interventions’. In the second waveinstead the effect was minimal, around 7%. Scholars speculate that “a combination of security measures, behavior changes, and epidemiological factors” prevented major outbreaks such as those that developed in the first half of 2020. In the second wave, European schools have put in place security measures that other organizations lacked, including testing and screening, contact tracing, sanitation, ventilation, group size reduction, and crowd prevention.

And the mask? «The policy of wearing it in most or all shared and public spaces and the night curfew have had moderate but statistically significant effects: 12% and 13% respectively ‘.