> When assessed individually, there was positive – if limited – evidence of transmission reduction from many of the NPIs used in the pandemic, the review found.

> When assessed individually, there was positive – if limited – evidence of transmission reduction from many of the NPIs used in the pandemic, the review found. However, evidence of a positive effect was clear when countries used combinations of NPIs. So I take this to mean they found a statistically significant effect, but not much more? I skimmed the Royal Society report but didn't see the numbers backing their claim. Is there good proof that interventions did anything besides maybe slow the virus down? The virus mutated despite mitigations (perhaps a good thing), people were still dying by the hundreds per day after the vaccine came out (in the U.S.), the whole world caught omicron (even communist China had to give up lockdowns), and word is the new variant evades prior immunity (but isn't more virulent). Would we have ended up in pretty much the same place without all the imperfect mandates and lockdowns?