“We have good studies from the US that actually indicate a moderate sustained reduction in social interaction probably makes sense in rich countries,” he said.
However, poor developing nations tend to have younger populations and gain “less overall benefit” from flattening the curve through economic shutdown measures.
Mr Lomborg said in these third world nations, the “limited capacity” of the medical system meant hospitals would be “overwhelmed” regardless of the number of infections.
A collaborative study conducted by Copenhagen Consensus and the Malawi National Planning Commission found even a moderate shut down in the African nation would result in a situation where the costs would outweigh the benefits, he told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
“A new study out of Sweden shows the social cost of lockdown is also enormous and is probably in the order of nine percent of GDP by itself”.
Image: AP
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