A new media article published in The Conversation “Yes, lockdowns are costly. But the alternatives are worse”

Mr Patrick Abraham and Dr Natalie Carvalho from Health Economics Unit, with colleagues Dr Laxman Bablani and Professor Tony Blakely from the Population Interventions Unit, recently published an online article in The Conversation. The article discusses how the costs of policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic should be framed and considers alternative costs from both health economics and epidemiological perspectives. The article builds on a recent publication (in press) in JAMA Health Forum, and the team’s Pandemic Trade-off Model which is available online. “To put it simply, the costs of lockdowns can’t be calculated in isolation from their role in the strategy chosen to control COVID-19… elimination requires fewer lockdowns with better health and economic outcomes.”