Page 7 - IJPS-11-5

International Journal of

Population Studies

REVIEW ARTICLE
Human behaviors during the COVID-19

pandemic and their consequences

Robert Martin*
Bell Labs, New Jersey, United States of America

Abstract

COVID-19 accounted for about 1.1 million deaths in the United States, 365,000 in
2020 alone, and about 7 million worldwide. Due to underreporting, the actual
global COVID-19-related deaths were likely between 15 and 30 million, with around
4 million in 2020. As devastating as these numbers were, without any behavioral
changes—whether voluntary or mandated—deaths in the United States would
have been about 8 million, and global deaths about 115 million, all within 2020.
Behavioral measures included border closure, air filtration, surface disinfection,
handwashing, wearing glasses/goggles, testing, contact tracing, and politically
mandated nonpharmaceutical interventions such as mask-wearing, social distancing,
school closures, and lockdowns. These measures significantly reduced mortality
rates. Depending on the specific behaviors adopted and the extent of vaccination
coverage, countries worldwide experienced widely varying outcomes—ranging
from essentially no increase in deaths to overwhelming surges. Each country’s
COVID-19 response was shaped by its leadership, making political decision-making
*Corresponding author: a decisive factor in pandemic outcomes. Furthermore, recommended behaviors
Robert Martin
(bobmartin08008@mac.com) became heavily politicized and were implemented and adhered to unevenly. Each
mandated behavior had significant negative consequences, such as reduced learning,
Citation: Martin R. (2025). Human
behaviors during the COVID-19 diminished socialization, and increased incidences of measles and polio. In addition,
pandemic and their consequences. maintaining safety required sacrificing quality of life. The most impactful measure
International Journal of was isolation, which contributed to increased stress, mental health problems, and
Population Studies, 11(5): 1-30.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ delays in medical treatment—factors that led to higher mortality rates and deaths
IJPS025110040 of despair. Moreover, a range of unusual human behaviors emerged. Misinformation
Received: March 11, 2025 spread rapidly, resulting in lower vaccination rates and reduced adherence to safe
practices. Interestingly, even animal behaviors changed. Hence, this paper discusses
Revised: May 25, 2025 behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic and their far-reaching consequences.
Accepted: June 3, 2025
Published online: August 7, 2025 Keywords: COVID-19; Nonpharmaceutical interventions; Lockdowns; Social distancing;
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). School closures
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, 1. Introduction
provided the original work is
properly cited. Human behavior, to put it mildly, is complex, unpredictable, and frustratingly
Publisher’s Note: AccScience irrational. Our COVID-related behaviors disrupted fragile equilibria and impacted our
Publishing remains neutral with health, socialization, education, and economy. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional comprehensive document titled The Mouse that Roared has been compiled to summarize
affiliations. COVID research. The title reflects the fact that, in historical context, severe acute

Volume 11 Issue 5 (2025) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/IJPS025110040