A study aimed at countering online misinformation reveals that health measures taken by governments related to COVID-19 helped save lives or reduce hospitalizations and the number of cases in 2020.
In a study published in 2023 in theAmerican Journal of Preventive MedicineMohsen Farhadloo, assistant professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management and Business Technology at the John Molson School of Business, and James Peters, doctoral student at Concordia University, argue that measures put in place by governments around the world during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic “have been generally effective in mitigating the impact of the health consequences of COVID-19”.
Ten non-pharmaceutical measures, implemented between January and June 2020, were analyzed, such as wearing face coverings, closing schools and businesses, social distancing and travel restrictions.
The research consists of a systematic review integrating quantitative data from 44 studies around the world. The goal was therefore to comb through “research that has examined the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on some aspects of health, such as the number of cases (of COVID-19), or the effect of interventions on hospitalizations or on the mortality rate of the population,” specifies the Dr Farhadloo during an interview with The Canadian Press.
Researchers noticed that previous studies focused almost solely on reducing mortality rates, and wanted to change that.
It was important for us to consider not only the impacts on mortality, but also on cases and hospitalizations, since these were relevant outcomes of the pandemic.
James Peters, doctoral student at Concordia University
According to Mohsen Farhadloo, research focusing only on one variable, namely the impact on mortality, can lead to erroneous conclusions.
Search results
The researchers’ results show that wearing a mask would have led to a reduction of 2.76 cases per 100,000 people, and 0.19% in the mortality rate across the world. Travel restrictions have reduced the growth rate of cases by 10% and school closures by 8%, according to the Dr Farhadloo.
For James Peters, the most surprising result of the study is the time between the announcement of a health measure and its concrete effects. “For example, we found that containment measures led to a reduction of 2.9 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people, but these effects were only observed four weeks after their implementation,” he mentions. -he. According to the study, the closure of restaurants and bars also had effects, namely reductions in mortality, only after four weeks.
The researchers invite policy makers to consider this delay in results when the time comes to develop or evaluate these measures.
All in all, for these researchers, the results prove that the measures all had at least one impact, either on the reduction in the number of cases, hospitalizations or deaths linked to COVID-19.
Countering misinformation
This research, launched in 2022, is “in response to existing misinformation about health on social networks”, indicates Dr Farhadloo.
According to him, it remains very easy to contribute to disinformation online, or even within scientific literature.
The researcher noted that false information abounded on social networks and that it constituted a “very serious” problem. “Raising public awareness of the prevalence of health-related misinformation is crucial, and it is important to understand that we need to provide ways for the public to be able to evaluate the quality of health information they receive on social networks social,” he adds.
The Dr Farhadloo is now carrying out research related to the quality of health information broadcast on the social network X.