Economic, physical and social determinants of health during the COVID-19 lockdown: a call for renewed societal responses

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global public health crisis with respect to its effects on economic, physical and mental health. While early lockdown guidelines may have been effective for reducing viral transmission, prolonged quarantine and physical distancing measures may have augmented the disparities underlying the determinants of health. The aggregate effects of rapid and significant economic downturn, as well as physical and mental morbidity and mortality, are reported to increase the risk of suicide. Furthermore, students, females and individuals with pre-existing mental health illness(es) are at an increased risk for poor mental health outcomes as a result of decreased social support and gaps in healthcare access. Individuals with a mood disorder are at a greater risk for COVID-19 hospitalisation. Additionally, international collaboration addressing underlying social and economic inequities across high-, middle-and low-income countries is critical for managing infection rates. Taken together, public health policies should target upstream factors that affect the determinants of ill health.Copyright © ERS 2021.