An analysis of studies released last month by Johns Hopkins University indicated that lockdowns in the spring of 2020 reduced COVID-19 mortality by only 0.2% in the U.S. and Europe, Fox News reported.

Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke, Lund University economics professor Lars Jonung, and Jonas Herby, special adviser at Copenhagen's Center for Political Studies,  analyzed various studies regarding how school shutdowns, business closings and mask mandates affected the COVID-19 death rate.

''While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted,'' the researchers wrote. ''In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.''

''We find little to no evidence that mandated lockdowns in Europe and the United States had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality rates,'' they added.

The researchers also concluded that shelter-in-place orders may have increased COVID-19 mortality by isolating ''an infected person at home with his/her family where he/she risks infecting family members with a higher viral load, causing more severe illness.''

The researchers also emphasized the unintended consequences of lockdowns.

From May 2020 to April 2021, the U.S. recorded 100,306 drug overdose deaths, a 28.5% increase from the previous year, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed.

The unemployment rate peaked nationwide at 14.8% in April 2020, Congressional Research Service found.

''These costs to society must be compared to the benefits of lockdowns, which our meta-analysis has shown are marginal at best,'' the researchers wrote. ''Such a standard benefit-cost calculation leads to a strong conclusion: lockdowns should be rejected out of hand as a pandemic policy instrument.''

• Johns Hopkins Researchers: Lockdowns Had Little Impact on COVID Deaths
• 58 Percent of Voters: Lockdowns Did More Harm Than Good