According to new research, these measures may not be the key to combating COVID.

There are many precautions we've been taking every day to try to stop the spread of COVID.

Now, a recent study out of Stanford University has discovered that two measures may not stop the spread of COVID as much as we thought.

5, researchers examined COVID case growth across 10 countries to determine how beneficial various precautionary measures proved to be, specifically looking at more restrictive measures like lockdowns and business closures.

Their findings suggest that mandatory lockdowns don't significantly stop the spread more than personal measures like social distancing and mask-wearing.

Even without more restrictive measures, both Sweden and South Korea had some of the lowest reported COVID cases for much of the pandemic.

That's likely why the Stanford researchers noted that "it is possible that stay-at-home orders may facilitate transmission if they increase person-to-person contact where transmission is efficient such as closed spaces." They cited a November study published in the journal Science that identified an increase in transmissions and cases during a stay-at-home order in Hunan, China, due to intra-household transmission.

And to see what you could do to prevent the spread of COVID, check out These 3 Things Could Prevent Almost All COVID Cases, Study Finds.