ReviewBMJ global health2020
Lockdown measures in response to COVID-19 in nine sub-Saharan African countries.
Review in BMJ global health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 198 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
198 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The association of COVID-19 lockdowns with adverse birth and pregnancy outcomes in 28 high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown on Self-Harm: A Meta-Analysis.Alpha psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the trends of care-seeking behavior for ocular diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of COVID-19 related lockdown restrictions on musculoskeletal health: a systematic review.Rheumatology international · 2023Pooled it
- Global prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 reinfection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Epidemics, Lockdown Measures and Vulnerable Populations: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review of the Evidence of Impacts on Mother and Child Health in Low-and Lower-Middle-Income Countries.International journal of health policy and management · 2022Pooled it
- The psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns: a review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies and natural experiments.Psychological medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Economic Impact Evaluation of COVID-19 Public Health Management Across Countries.The International journal of health planning and management · 2026Article
- Interconnected effects of witnessing household violence, food insecurity, and mental health among peri-urban Cape Town youth: A mediation analysis.Journal of child and adolescent mental health · 2026Article
- A Moderated Mediation Model of HIV-Related Anticipated Stigma and Social Capital on the Relationship Between Diagnosis During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Potentially Problematic Substance Use Among Young South Africans.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- An account of health systems resilience to emergencies in Africa: a scoping review.Globalization and health · 2026Article
- Impacts of COVID-19 mobility-restricting policies and perceived COVID-19 risks on household unmet medical needs in Nigeria: a difference-in-differences analysis.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Prevalence and correlates of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus among adults in rural Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic: an evaluation of a community-based screening programme.International health · 2026Article
- SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody profiles reveal variant specific antibody dynamics and regional differences in infection histories in Malawi.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Sleepless in America: A social sensing study of pandemic-era sleeplessness using nighttime social media data.PloS one · 2026Article
- Enabling data-driven decision-making for innovative health care and delivery in Africa.npj health systems · 2025Review
- From challenge to opportunity: application of the resilience framework to explore women and girls' positive educational and wellbeing adaptations during the COVID-19 lockdown.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Assessing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on all-cause mortality and child mortality in a population cohort of Iganga Mayuge HDSS in Eastern Uganda (2015-2021).Population health metrics · 2025Article
- Characterising protective immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in urban and rural Malawi between February 2021 and April 2022.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Establishing the effect of COVID-19 lockdown policy on the utilization of facility-based delivery in Kenya: a multi-method study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
138 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
23 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Lockdown measures have been introduced worldwide to contain the transmission of COVID-19. However, the term 'lockdown' is not well-defined. Indeed, WHO's reference to 'so-called lockdown measures' indicates the absence of a clear and universally accepted definition of the term 'lockdown'. We propose a definition of 'lockdown' based on a two-by-two matrix that categorises different communicable disease measures based on whether they are compulsory or voluntary; and whether they are targeted at identifiable individuals or facilities, or whether they are applied indiscriminately to a general population or area. Using this definition, we describe the design, timing and implementation of lockdown measures in nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. While there were some commonalities in the implementation of lockdown across these countries, a more notable finding was the variation in the design, timing and implementation of lockdown measures. We also found that the number of reported cases is heavily dependent on the number of tests carried out, and that testing rates ranged from 2031 to 63 928 per million population up until 7 September 2020. The reported number of COVID-19 deaths per million population also varies (0.4 to 250 up until 7 September 2020), but is generally low when compared with countries in Europe and North America. While lockdown measures may have helped inhibit community transmission, the pattern and nature of the epidemic remains unclear. However, there are signs of lockdown harming health by affecting the functioning of the health system and causing social and economic disruption.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.