(Ezekiel Loseke, Headline USA) The 2020-2021 lockdowns may have resulted in more deaths than it saved, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
“We estimate 171,000 excess non-Covid deaths through the end of 2021,” said a recent NBER study.
The revelation highlighted what has been a “largely unacknowledged health emergency” since many on the Left sought to suppress skepticism and stigmatize dissent of the draconian orders.
The causes of these deaths were legion: The study found that diabetes, obesity, drug induced-causes of death, and alcohol-related deaths rose anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 above the national average.
“Drug deaths especially followed an alarming trend, only to significantly exceed it during the pandemic to reach 108,000 for calendar year 2021,” the study noted.
According to the NBER, two other non-COVID-related forms of death rose during the lockdowns: “Homicide and motor-vehicle fatalities combined were elevated almost 10,000,” it said. “Various other causes combined to add 18,000.”
While COVID-19 primarily affected senior citizens, these lockdown-related deaths rose in a similar pattern among all people over 18.
And although children were not dying at higher rates from these causes, America’s youth were also harmed considerably by the lockdowns.
As previously reported, children experienced excessive mental-health problems stemming from the lack of in-person socialization during the pandemic.
Children also suffered significant learning losses—especially in states that were slow to reopen schools.
Other countries fared better, according to the NBER study.
Sweden, for example, which resisted the trend of lockdowns and extreme mandates, did not see a spike in non-COVID-related deaths.
The study acknowledged that Sweden’s better numbers may result from a better COVID-tracking system. However, the researchers also suggested that “Sweden’s result is related to minimizing the disruption of its citizen’s normal lifestyles.”
