COVID-19 lockdowns

A usually congested highway in Penang, Malaysia, deserted during the Movement Control Order
Healthcare workers in Hong Kong prepare to conduct mass COVID-19 testing of Jordan residents during a localised lockdown.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delivers a press conference instructing the public to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.
At a community quarantine checkpoint in Bohol, Philippines, police officers check a passing jeepney.
Queue in front of a supermarket in Italy caused by social distancing measures and supply shortages during the lockdown
Volunteers in Cape Town pack food parcels to distribute to the needy during the pandemic lockdown in South Africa.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, cordons sanitaires and similar societal restrictions), were implemented in numerous countries and territories around the world. By April 2020, about half of the world's population was under some form of lockdown, with more than 3.9 billion people in more than 90 countries or territories having been asked or ordered to stay at home by their governments.

In addition to the health effects of lockdown restrictions, researchers had found the lockdowns may have reduced crime and violence by armed non-state actors, such as the Islamic State, and other terrorist groups. In addition, lockdowns had increased the uptake of telecommuting, reduced airborne pollution, and increased adoption of digital payment systems.

Research has also documented profound negative economic impacts, in addition to worsened school academic performance, and have been met with major protests around the world.

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