Digitalization impacts the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringency of government measures.

ABSTRACT: COVID-19 poses a significant burden to populations worldwide. Although the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, little is known about the influence of digitalization on pandemic developments. Therefore, this country-level study aims to explore the impact of pre-pandemic digital adoption on COVID-19 outcomes and government measures. Using the Digital Adoption Index (DAI), we examined the association between countries' digital preparedness levels and COVID-19 cases, deaths, and stringency indices (SI) of government measures until March 2021. Gradient Tree Boosting based algorithm pinpointed essential features related to COVID-19 trends, such as digital adoption, populations' smoker fraction, age, and poverty. Subsequently, regression analyses indicated that higher DAI was associa

SUBMITTER: Heinrichs H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9749635 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature