COVID-19 lockdowns helped people get more, but not necessarily better, sleep
Lockdowns haven’t just curbed coronavirus transmission — they’ve also helped people get more sleep (SN: 6/9/20). Two studies, both published June 10 in Current Biology, report that people began sleeping more and more regularly every night after countries imposed stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But that sleep may not have been of the best quality, one of those studies finds. In one study, researchers compared sleeping patterns of 139 students from the University of Colorado Boulder before and after stay-at-home orders moved classes online. Students’ sleep schedules became more regular and better aligned with their body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, the team found. Sign up for e-mail updates on the latest coronavirus news and research Those students also got more sleep overall. Before lockdowns, 84 percent of students reported getting seven hours a night or more during the week — the minimum amount that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends...