Lockdowns beyond two months impose massive economic costs without any real health benefits because they only delay an inevitable second wave of the virus, according to a new international COVID-19 study by former Reserve Bank of Australia economist Greg Kaplan.

His co-authored virus research also finds the economic consequences of the virus before any lockdowns disproportionately hurt people working in socially exposed occupations, such as waiters and hairdressers, who are typically more financially vulnerable.