“We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem.”

Thus proclaimed then-US President Donald Trump in March last year when explaining his opposition to COVID-19 restrictions and his eagerness to end lockdowns early.

The debate on whether lockdowns are worth it measured by health outcomes has been had around the world from the beginning of the pandemic and has now surfaced again in Australia where 13 million people are under stay-at-home restrictions.

According to a team of international researchers, led by University of Wollongong epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, the counterfactual of an unmitigated epidemic still makes them far less damaging than has been suggested.