Evaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in Cataluña and its effects on mobility and COVID19 incidence
Abstract The world has gone through unprecedented changes since the global pandemic hit. During the early phase of the pandemic, the absence of known drugs or pharmaceutical treatments forced governments to introduce different policies in order to help reduce contagion rates and manage the economic...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2022-06-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11531-y |
| _version_ | 1828796805971705856 |
|---|---|
| author | Matthew Smith Miguel Ponce-de-Leon Alfonso Valencia |
| author_facet | Matthew Smith Miguel Ponce-de-Leon Alfonso Valencia |
| author_sort | Matthew Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The world has gone through unprecedented changes since the global pandemic hit. During the early phase of the pandemic, the absence of known drugs or pharmaceutical treatments forced governments to introduce different policies in order to help reduce contagion rates and manage the economic consequences of the pandemic. This paper analyses the causal impact on mobility and COVID19 incidence from policy makers in Cataluña, Spain. We use anonymized phone-based mobility data together with reported incidence and apply a series of causal impact models frequently used in econometrics and policy evaluation in order to measure the policies impact. We analyse the case of Cataluña and the public policy decision of closing all bars and restaurants down for a 5 week period between 2020-16-10 and 2020-23-11. We find that this decision led to a significant reduction in mobility. It not only led to reductions in mobility but from a behavioural economics standpoint, we highlight how people responded to the policy decision. Moreover, the policy of closing bars and restaurants slowed the incidence rate of COVID19 after a time lag has been taken into account. These findings are significant since governments worldwide want to restrict movements of people in order to slow down COVID19 incidence without infringing on their rights directly. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T04:29:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a459aa339ce34262aca9f77af4e43474 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T04:29:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-a459aa339ce34262aca9f77af4e434742022-12-22T00:38:08ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-06-0112111910.1038/s41598-022-11531-yEvaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in Cataluña and its effects on mobility and COVID19 incidenceMatthew Smith0Miguel Ponce-de-Leon1Alfonso Valencia2Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Life ScienceBarcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Life ScienceBarcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Life ScienceAbstract The world has gone through unprecedented changes since the global pandemic hit. During the early phase of the pandemic, the absence of known drugs or pharmaceutical treatments forced governments to introduce different policies in order to help reduce contagion rates and manage the economic consequences of the pandemic. This paper analyses the causal impact on mobility and COVID19 incidence from policy makers in Cataluña, Spain. We use anonymized phone-based mobility data together with reported incidence and apply a series of causal impact models frequently used in econometrics and policy evaluation in order to measure the policies impact. We analyse the case of Cataluña and the public policy decision of closing all bars and restaurants down for a 5 week period between 2020-16-10 and 2020-23-11. We find that this decision led to a significant reduction in mobility. It not only led to reductions in mobility but from a behavioural economics standpoint, we highlight how people responded to the policy decision. Moreover, the policy of closing bars and restaurants slowed the incidence rate of COVID19 after a time lag has been taken into account. These findings are significant since governments worldwide want to restrict movements of people in order to slow down COVID19 incidence without infringing on their rights directly.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11531-y |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Smith Miguel Ponce-de-Leon Alfonso Valencia Evaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in Cataluña and its effects on mobility and COVID19 incidence Scientific Reports |
| title | Evaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in Cataluña and its effects on mobility and COVID19 incidence |
| title_full | Evaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in Cataluña and its effects on mobility and COVID19 incidence |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in Cataluña and its effects on mobility and COVID19 incidence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in Cataluña and its effects on mobility and COVID19 incidence |
| title_short | Evaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in Cataluña and its effects on mobility and COVID19 incidence |
| title_sort | evaluating the policy of closing bars and restaurants in cataluna and its effects on mobility and covid19 incidence |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11531-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT matthewsmith evaluatingthepolicyofclosingbarsandrestaurantsincatalunaanditseffectsonmobilityandcovid19incidence AT miguelponcedeleon evaluatingthepolicyofclosingbarsandrestaurantsincatalunaanditseffectsonmobilityandcovid19incidence AT alfonsovalencia evaluatingthepolicyofclosingbarsandrestaurantsincatalunaanditseffectsonmobilityandcovid19incidence |