Remarks
A Lesson from the Spanish Flu: Don’t End Restrictions Too Soon
New research says shutdowns need to last about 12 weeks to save lives.
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Social distancing didn’t meaningfully reduce the number of deaths from the Spanish flu a century ago because it didn’t last long enough, says a new research paper that has implications for the response to Covid-19.
Harvard University economist Robert Barro writes that “the likely reason” school closings, prohibitions on public gatherings, and quarantines and isolation in various U.S. cities didn’t save many lives is that they “had an average duration of only one month.”