Policy Stringency, Handwashing and COVID-19 cases: Evidence from Global dataset

Janet Dzator^{1

2

3}, Alex O Acheampong^{1

3}, Michael Dzator^{4

2

3}, Francesco Paolucci^{1

2}, Bruno Lule Yawe^{5

2}, Emmanuel Ekow Asmah^{6

2}, Francis Kwaw Andoh^{6

2}, Allen Kabagenyi^{5

2}, James Gillespie^{2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Australia.
² Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN) Partner.
³ Centre for African Research, Engagement and Partnerships (CARE-P), University of Newcastle, Australia.
⁴ SAE, Central Queensland University, Mackay, QLD, Australia.
⁵ School of Economics, Makerere University, Uganda.
⁶ School of Economics, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁷ Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 34786329
PMCID: PMC8574075
DOI: 10.1016/j.hlpt.2021.100574

Policy Stringency, Handwashing and COVID-19 cases: Evidence from Global dataset

Janet Dzator et al. Health Policy Technol. 2022 Jun.

. 2022 Jun;11(2):100574.

doi: 10.1016/j.hlpt.2021.100574. Epub 2021 Nov 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Australia.
² Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN) Partner.
³ Centre for African Research, Engagement and Partnerships (CARE-P), University of Newcastle, Australia.
⁴ SAE, Central Queensland University, Mackay, QLD, Australia.
⁵ School of Economics, Makerere University, Uganda.
⁶ School of Economics, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁷ Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 34786329
PMCID: PMC8574075
DOI: 10.1016/j.hlpt.2021.100574

Abstract

Objective: : Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments globally have introduced policy measures to contain the spread of the virus. Popular COVID-19 containment measures include lockdowns of various forms (aggregated into government response stringency index [GRSI]) and handwashing (HWF). The effectiveness of these policy measures remains unclear in the academic literature. This study, therefore, examines the effect of government policy stringency and handwashing on total daily reported COVID-19 cases.

Method: : We use a comprehensive dataset of 176 countries to investigate the effect of government policy stringency and handwashing on daily reported COVID-19 cases. In this study, we apply the Lewbel (2012) two-stage least squares technique to control endogeneity.

Results: : Our results indicated that GRSI significantly contributes to the increase in the total and new confirmed cases of COVI-19. Sensitivity analyses revealed that the 1st, 4th, and 5th quintiles of GRIS significantly reduce total confirmed cases of COVID-19. Also, the result indicated that while the 1st quintile of GRIS contributes significantly to reducing the new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th quintiles of GRSI contribute significantly to increasing the new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The results indicated that HWF reduces total and new confirmed cases of COVID-19; however, such effect is not robust to income and regional effects. Nonlinear analysis revealed that while GRSI has an inverted U-shaped relationship with total and new confirmed cases of COVID-19, HWF has a U-shaped relationship.

Conclusion: : We suggest that policymakers should focus on raising awareness and full engagement of all members of society in implementing public health policies rather than using stringent lockdown measures.

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Economic Development; Handwashing; Personal hygiene; Policy Stringency.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig 1 — **Fig. 1**
number of regional COVID-19 cases per million as of 22 January 2020 to 6^th January 2021

Fig 2 — **Fig. 2**
Regional government response stringency index as of 22 January 2020 to 6^th January 2021

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Policy Stringency, Handwashing and COVID-19 cases: Evidence from Global dataset

Affiliations

Policy Stringency, Handwashing and COVID-19 cases: Evidence from Global dataset

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

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References

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