Study points to success of Greek lockdown

The lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of multiple measures promoting social distancing led to an 81 percent reduction of Greece's R number (which measures the rate of the virus' reproduction), according to a study by Greek researchers.

The R number is basically how many people an infected person will transmit the disease to. 

The study also showed that during the quarantine, the residents of Athens reduced their social contacts by a staggering 86.9 percent.

Greeks as a whole reduced their social contacts from 20.7 people on a daily basis before the lockdown was imposed, to just 2.9 people (the largest decrease was recorded in those aged 5 to 17 due to the closure of schools).

This greatly impacted the R value, which dropped from 2.8, when restrictions had not yet been introduced, to 0.46 during the lockdown.