More than three million deaths may have been prevented by coronavirus lockdowns across Europe, research suggests. A modelling study from Imperial College London scientists, involving data from 11 European countries up to early May 2020, found that lockdowns had a "substantial effect" in reducing transmission levels of Covid-19.
European countries began implementing social distancing, school closures and national lockdowns in March, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson putting the UK in lockdown on March 23, a date critics say was too late after a delay that cost lives.
The Imperial researchers estimate that across all 11 countries - the UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - between 12