Comparing the impact on COVID-19 mortality of self-imposed behavior change and of government regulations across 13 countries.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Countries have adopted different approaches, at different times, to reduce the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Cross-country comparison could indicate the relative efficacy of these approaches. We assess various nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), comparing the effects of voluntary behavior change and of changes enforced via official regulations, by examining their impacts on subsequent death rates.

Data sources

Secondary data on COVID-19 deaths from 13 European countries, over March-May 2020.

Study design

We examine two types of NPI: the introduction of government-enforced closure policies and self-imposed alteration of individual behaviors in the period prior to regulations. Our proxy for the latter is Google mobility data, which c

SUBMITTER: Jamison JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8441808 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature