All or nothing? Partial business shutdowns and COVID-19 fatality growth.

ABSTRACT: Incomplete vaccine uptake and limited vaccine availability for some segments of the population could lead policymakers to consider re-imposing restrictions to help reduce fatalities. Early in the pandemic, full business shutdowns were commonplace. Given this response, much of the literature on policy effectiveness has focused on full closures and their impact. But were complete closures necessary? Using a hand-collected database of partial business closures for all U.S. counties from March through December 2020, we examine the impact of capacity restrictions on COVID-19 fatality growth. For the restaurant and bar sector, we find that several combinations of partial capacity restrictions are as effective as full shutdowns. For example, point estimates indicate that, for the average county,

SUBMITTER: Spiegel M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8827474 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature