And the opposite has been seen in some places.
We know this from the painfully drawn out whataboutery including all kinds of comparisons of continents, countries, states, regions and archipelagos.
None of the data perfectly aligns a single conclusion.
So, yes, it can be argued.
Was lockdown helpful in lowering cases? Probably.
100% categorical certainty? Canât be proved without the side by side comparison I mention, which wonât ever happen.
And that becomes a problem when you layer in all the issues that prolonged lockdowns impose on a population.
The question then becomes how much of a help was it?
Well, that also canât be quantified. Any quantification is absolute guesswork.
And go a layer of abstraction further.
Were the benefits of the lockdown > the societal cost of the lockdown?
This will be argued for the next decade.