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Review
. 2021 Aug;125(8):957-971.
doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.05.016. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

A comparative study of public health and social measures of COVID-19 advocated in different countries

Di Wang  1 , Zhifei Mao  2
Affiliations
Review

A comparative study of public health and social measures of COVID-19 advocated in different countries

Di Wang et al. Health Policy. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on the world. Different countries introduced various public health and social measures (PHSMs) against the coronavirus. This paper aims to (a) examine how national policies on PHSMs were framed and which PHSMs were adopted; (b) compare the similarities and differences of PHSMs advocated by different countries; and (c) examine whether these measures have changed with time. We performed a content analysis of 160 COVID-19 policy documents on the websites of the WHO and ten countries' government websites on COVID-19 between December 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020. Results showed that although the initial responses to COVID-19 in different countries varied, there was a homogenization of PHSMs over time: by May 31, 2020, almost all the countries we studied implemented the major PHSMs that the WHO recommended, except Sweden, which applied only part of the major PHSMs recommended by the WHO. The differences among countries were in the speediness, strictness and resourcefulness of the PHSMs implementation. We suggest that a timely and effective utilization of the integrated package of health measures with the support of adequate resources may help the efficient implementation of PHSMs.

Keywords: COVID-19; Comparative study; National policy; Public health and social measures; Public health policy; The WHO.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in China. Note: WHO did not provide the number confirmed cases in China before January 21, 2020, and therefore the number before January 21, 2020 was from National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in South Korea.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in Japan.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in Singapore.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in Italy.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in the UK.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in Germany.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in Sweden.
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in the US.
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
The number of confirmed cases and public health and social measures in South Africa.
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
The number of global confirmed cases and movement restriction measures of the ten countries. Note: N stands for the number of global confirmed cases on that day.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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