COVID-19 lockdowns

COVID-19 lockdowns were government-imposed restrictions on movement and activity during the pandemic, intended to reduce contact between people and slow transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Non-pharmaceutical intervention: A measure that reduces disease transmission without using medicines or vaccines. Lockdowns belonged to this broader class of measures used to limit COVID-19 spread.
COVID-19 recession: The sharp global economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Business closures and restricted activity contributed to abrupt losses in output and employment.
Targeted protection: A pandemic strategy that prioritizes shielding people at high risk while allowing wider social activity. It proposed focused protection instead of broad population-wide restrictions.
COVID-19 pandemic: The global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, recognized as such by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Lockdowns were emergency responses to this pandemic and its rapidly spreading disease.
COVID-19 lockdown effectiveness: The estimated effect of COVID-19 restrictions on transmission, illness, and mortality. Estimating effectiveness is difficult because lockdowns overlapped with other interventions and behavior changes.
Social distancing: Practices that increase physical distance or reduce close contact between people. Restrictions aimed to reduce the close contacts through which SARS-CoV-2 spread.
School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic: The suspension of in-person schooling in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Closing schools was a widespread restriction with consequences for learning and family life.
Herd immunity: Indirect protection that arises when enough people in a population are immune to an infection. Some proposals favored allowing infections to spread toward population immunity rather than imposing broad lockdowns.
Wuhan lockdown: The confinement and travel restrictions imposed in Wuhan, China, beginning in January 2020. It became an early, prominent example of a large-scale COVID-19 lockdown.
Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: Deaths above the number expected from historical patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Excess deaths capture both direct pandemic mortality and possible indirect effects of restrictions.

Linked from 6 pages