Stringency and timeliness of COVID-19 policies in managing the pandemic in Queensland: Lessons from 2020

Queensland experienced relatively low case numbers during the first year of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This may be due to timely, stringent policies, yet there is currently no research evaluating this link, despite the state government playing such a primary role in the pandemic response. This ecological study used a cross-sectional design to examine the stringency and timeliness of Queensland's containment policies and their impact on COVID-19 cases in 2020. To achieve this, the authors generated a stringency index for Queensland in 2020 in line with the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) method, since these data were not available at the time. The national context was also provided by examining the relationship between case numbers and policies in Australia. The findings demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between policy stringency and case numbers in both Australia and Queensland. While Australia experienced two waves of COVID-19 in 2020, Queensland only experienced one. In terms of timeliness, there was a reactive approach to the first wave, with rapid escalation of policy stringency in both Queensland and Australia as a whole. Queensland's ability to prevent a second wave in 2020 may be due to a more systematic, gradual de-escalation of policies and the maintenance of strategies such as interstate border controls. This study suggests that preventing the reintroduction of new cases after a period of elimination is important. Recommendations are made for the application and interpretation of the stringency index. Further research is needed to understand the relationship between de-escalation strategies and outcomes.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. World Medical & Health Policy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Policy Studies Organization.

Psychiatric ward admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canton of Ticino (Swiss Confederation) and the province of Como (Italy): a comparison between two different systems of care and outbreak response strategies

The aim of the study was to estimate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and response policies on the psychiatric ward admissions in the hospitals referring to the ASST Lariana (province of Como, Italy) and the Hospital of Mendrisio (Canton of Ticino, Switzerland), two similar territories that belong to countries that dealt differently with the pandemic. We compared the two territories for type of admission (voluntary vs. compulsory), the Stringency Index (SI) and the country's number of admission in Intensive Care Units (ICU). We found a significant reduction in the psychiatric ward admission in the lockdown period in both territories, even in periods with milder lockdown measures. The admission rate's reduction in the ASST Lariana was significantly associated with the ICU admissions (p<0.001). In the Hospital of Mendrisio, admissions included a weekly seasonality, were significantly correlated with SI (p=0.001) and period (pre-pandemic and pandemic;p<0.001) and we observed also a significant reduction of compulsory admission that is influenced both by the stringency index (p<0.001) and period (p<0.001). The differences between the two territories seem influenced by the different mental health systems. r. © the Author(s), 2023 Licensee PAGEPress, Italy.

Mortality and Health Spending during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Comparing Central, Eastern and Western Europe

The article shows the relationships between the COVID and non-COVID deaths during the first year of the pandemic, compared with the stringency of restrictions imposed and the compul- sory spending on healthcare. We compare these relationships among European countries, analysing weekly data and applying cointegration models. Regarding the pandemic's inten- sity, we split the period into two: March - August 2020 and September 2020 - February 2021. We find that, most often, if there was a relationship between the stringency index and COVID or non-COVID mortality, it was usually positive and mortality driven. That sug- gests that although the governments tailored the restrictions to the growing mortality rate, they were unable to control the pandemic. No relationships, or negative ones, were most of- ten found in these countries where the spending on healthcare was the highest (i.e., Northern and Western European countries). The biggest weekly changes in non-COVID deaths during the second sub-period were observed in the Central and Eastern European countries, where government healthcare expenditures per capita are the lowest.

Does a Government Response to COVID-19 Hurt the Stock Price of an Energy Enterprise?

This research examines the shock of a government response to COVID-19 on the stock prices of 30 international energy enterprises spanning from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Overall, the empirical results denote that a government response stringency index, containment and health index, and economic support index all have a statistically significant negative impact on their stock prices. The negative impact from the containment and health index is especially the greatest, implying that a government's stringent responses have great negative effect on the stock prices of most energy enterprises.

Assessing the impact of local context and priorities regarding domestic disease outbreaks and imported risk on early pandemic response: Cross-continental comparisons.

Introduction: Containment and closure policies are effective measures used in the early stages of a highly transmissible global pandemic such as COVID-19 to mitigate the spread and reduce transmissions. However, these policies can have negative impacts on the economy and personal freedom. Governments must carefully consider the necessity of increasing their stringency. Local contexts and priorities regarding domestic disease outbreaks and the risk of imported cases from other countries may vary among different countries, and could influence the decision to increase containment measures. Thus, this study aimed to differentiate the impacts of these affecting factors on the stringency of governmental containment measures through cross-continental comparisons. Methods: This study utilized a zero/one inflated beta (ZOIB) regression model to investigate how domestic epidemic, imported risk, and local context affect government responses to a pandemic. We used a country's weekly confirmed case and death numbers as a measure of its domestic threat. The imported risk was measured using a combination of weekly new cases in each country and the air passenger traffic between countries. Results: The findings indicate that domestic case numbers are a primary concern for governments when deciding to increase policy stringency. Countries with higher development levels tend to implement stricter policies as they can better handle the negative impacts. Additionally, there is an interaction between case numbers and development level, with countries at the second or third highest development level focusing more on domestic outbreaks than imported risks, while those at the highest level have similar concerns for both. Conclusions: We concluded that most countries adjust policies' stringency majorly based on the variation of domestic case number rather than the other pandemic factors and the countries with a high development level tend to implement strict policies since their socio-economical condition could afford such policies. These insights can aid policymakers in improving containment and closure policies for future pandemics.

Government decisions to contain the pandemic and its effects on world merchandise trade

The outbreak and rapid spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) deepened the slowdown in international trade, as decisions taken by governments to contain the spread of the virus hurt economic activity by slowing production or even stopping it altogether. The objective of this article is to analyze the level of severity of the restrictive public health measures applied by governments to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of these decisions on world merchandise trade. The strictness index is used as an indicator of the severity of the measures applied by the countries, calculated daily based on the score of nine metrics, whose values range between 0 and 100;as well as the annual growth rates of world merchandise trade. The results reveal that most countries recorded the strictest and longest lockdowns when there were no vaccines, simultaneously experiencing sharp declines, to varying degrees, in their merchandise trade growth rates;In conclusion, it is observed that, as the vaccination campaigns progressed, the end of the confinement was closer, as was the recovery of economic-commercial activity and employment © 2023, Revista de Ciencias Sociales.All Rights Reserved.

Can Stringent Government Initiatives Lead to Global Economic Recovery Rapidly during the COVID-19 Epidemic?

This paper investigates the effectiveness of government measures implemented against COVID-19 and the factors influencing a country's economic growth from a global perspective. With the help of the data of the Government Response Stringency Index (GRSI), Google mobility, and confirmed COVID-19 daily cases, we conducted a panel model for 105 countries and regions from 11 March 2020 to 31 June 2021 to explore the effects of response policies in different countries against the pandemic. First, the results showed that staying in residential places had the strongest correlation with confirmed cases. Second, in countries with higher government stringency, stay-at-home policies carried out in the early spread of the pandemic had the most effective the impact. In addition, the results have also been strictly robustly analyzed by applying the propensity score matching (PSM) method. Third, after reconstructing a panel data of 47 OECD countries, we further concluded that governments should take stricter restrictive measures in response to COVID-19. Even though it may also cause a shock to the market in the short term, this may not be sustainable. As long as the policy response is justified, it will moderate the negative effect on the economy over time, and finally have a positive effect.

How did regional lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic affect recruitment into a large multinational cohort study of intrauterine device users?

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of lockdown policies on the recruitment of an ongoing cohort study. STUDY DESIGN: We performed descriptive analyses of recruitment, dropout, and baseline characteristics over time. Oxford Stringency Index was used to assess the impact of regional constraints on recruitment. RESULTS: Drop in recruitment clearly reflected the Stringency Index within the first months of the pandemic. Unexpectedly, drop-out rates declined in 2020/2021. Baseline characteristics were comparable, yet younger women were recruited more frequently during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: There was no strong evidence of recruitment bias due to the pandemic. IMPLICATIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic is a potential source of bias for ongoing studies and its influence on the study conduct (e.g., recruitment, drop-out) should be thoroughly evaluated to ensure that study results are not biased in this regard. The Oxford's Government Stringency Index can be used to identify pandemic-affected time periods.

Impact of government policy responses of COVID-19 pandemic on stock market liquidity for Australian companies.

This study investigates the impact of government policy responses of COVID-19 pandemic on stock market liquidity for listed Australian companies and for 11 different industries separately. A quantitative deductive approach is used for a sample of 1,452 companies with a total of 292,164 firm-day observations over a period from January 25, 2020 to December 31, 2020 during the outbreak of COVID-19. Univariate and multivariate (two-way cluster-robust panel regression) analysis were conducted. Data were collected from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, Worldmeter, Refinitiv Workspace and Datastream. Our findings indicate that the influences of the six out of seven stringency policy responses reduced Australian equity market liquidity. However, public information campaigns enhanced market liquidity and hence trading activity. Among the 11 industries, our analysis shows that the non-pharmaceutical interventions by the Australian government have significant and positive effects on four industries: Consumer non-cyclicals, healthcare, financial and technology. However, the worse effects were depicted in the industrial (transportation) and energy industries. This study is important for investors, policymakers and regulators to understand the diverse effects of government policy responses of COVID-19 on stock market liquidity to enhance financial stability. Moreover, understanding this effect is particularly important to decision-makers such as portfolio and fund managers to manage their portfolios and trading activities during extreme turbulence times, such as COVID-19. Unlike previous studies that focus on country analysis, this study examines on firm basis the impact of government interventions on stock market liquidity in a well developed Australian stock market.

The Power of Governments in Fight Against COVID-19: High-Performing Health Systems or Government Response Policies?

Due to the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19 disease, there have been tremendous efforts worldwide to keep the spread of the virus under control and protect the functioning of health systems. Although governments take many actions in fighting this pandemic, it is well known that health systems play an undeniable role in this fight. This study aimed to investigate the role of health systems and government responses in fighting COVID-19. By purposively sampling Finland, Denmark, the UK, and Italy and analyzing their health systems' performances, governments' stringency indexes, and COVID-19 spread variables, this study showed that high-performing health systems were the main power of states in managing pandemic environments. This study also measured relations between short and medium-term measures and COVID-19 case and death numbers in all study countries. It showed that medium-term measures had significant effects on death numbers. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

COVID-19 related stringencies and financial market volatility: sectoral evidence from India

Purpose: This study aims to examine the impact of the stringency of COVID-19 protocols on the volatility of sectoral indices during the period 03:2020–05:2021. Specifically, this study investigates the role of economic disturbances on sectoral volatility by applying a range of conditional volatility techniques. Design/methodology/approach: For this analysis, two approaches were adopted. The first approach considers COVID stringency as a factor in the conditional variance equation of sectoral indices. In contrast, the second approach considers the stringency indicator as a possible determinant of their estimated conditional volatility. Findings: Results show that the stringency of the protocols throughout the pandemic phase led to an instantaneous spike followed by a gradual decrease in estimated volatility of all the sectoral indices except pharma and health care. Specific sectors such as bank, FMCG, consumer durables, financial services, IT, media and private banks respond to protocols expeditiously compared to other sectors. Originality/value: The key contribution of this study to the existing literature is the innovative approach. The inclusion of the COVID stringency index as a regressor in the variance equation of the conditional volatility techniques was a distinctive approach for assessing the volatility dynamics with the stringency of COVID protocols. Furthermore, this study also adopts an alternative approach that estimates the conditional volatility of the indices and then tests the effect of the stringencies on estimated volatility in a regression framework. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Innovation sharing a remedial measure: the case of Covid-19 pandemic

Purpose: This study has aimed to analyse the role of innovation-sharing collaboration in the large-scale manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccination across the globe and its impact on the mortality rate of the countries where the pharmaceutical manufacturers received such innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The authors have relied upon the difference-in-difference (DID) approach by utilizing the data available on public platforms such as World Health Organization (WHO) databank, organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) data bank, istat, Indian bureau of statistics and European centre for disease prevention and control (ecdc) from 2020 to 2021 to establish the empirical inference of the analysis. Findings: This study's results present that after the invention and commercialization of the vaccine, the Covid-19 impact was still intact and people were dying continuously. However, it was impossible to fulfil the demand of the 7 billion population in a short time. In the light of these facts, the WHO encouraged sharing vaccine innovation with other countries to enhance production capacity. The authors found that after vaccine innovation sharing, Covid-19's devastation slowed: the fatality rate was marginally reduced, and economic conditions started their recovery journey. Originality/value: This study's findings present that the Covid-19 vaccine played a pivotal role in tackling the Covid-19's devastating impact on the entire world. It emphasizes the role of innovation-sharing collaborations in curtailing hazardous consequences, including the mortality rate during a crisis, and such collaborations' impact on the countries where institutions involved in them reside. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Empirical evidence of effects of stringency amid Covid-19 pandemic spread.

The objective of this paper is to provide an insight on effect of stringency in Covid-19 spread in India especially in Chennai, a city were more lockdown, and restrictions was imposed to control the infection. Even though the restriction was imposed in the country by the end of March 2020, the growth reduction was seen in the mid of June as the awareness was increased. The average Covid-19 case growth was got reduce from 3.43 to 2.62% by July mid. To analysis the impact of stringency, a detailed analysis was done on Chennai city which was imposed with more repeated lockdowns to flatten the curve. We tried to fit a regression line with three difference scenario of data. The results show a promising R-squared and p value, with a right skewed distribution normal probability plot. The impact of lockdown in people's lives in different sectors were also discussed in this paper.

Effects of strict containment policies on COVID-19 pandemic crisis: lessons to cope with next pandemic impacts.

The goal of the study here is to analyze and assess whether strict containment policies to cope with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crisis are effective interventions to reduce high numbers of infections and deaths. A homogenous sample of 31 countries is categorized in two sets: countries with high or low strictness of public policy to cope with COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The findings here suggest that countries with a low intensity of strictness have average confirmed cases and fatality rates related to COVID-19 lower than countries with high strictness in containment policies (confirmed cases are 24.69% vs. 26.06% and fatality rates are 74.33% vs. 76.38%, respectively, in countries with low and high strictness of COVID-19 public policies of containment). What this study adds is that high levels of strict restriction policies may not be useful measures of control in containing the spread and negative impact of pandemics similar to COVID-19 and additionally a high strictness in containment policies generates substantial social and economic costs. These findings can be explained with manifold socioeconomic and environmental factors that support transmission dynamics and circulation of COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, high levels of strictness in public policy (and also a high share of administering new vaccines) seem to have low effectiveness to stop pandemics similar to COVID-19 driven by mutant viral agents. These results here suggest that the design of effective health policies for prevention and preparedness of future pandemics should be underpinned in a good governance of countries and adoption of new technology, rather than strict and generalized health polices having ambiguous effects of containment in society.

Overlapping Delta and Omicron Outbreaks During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Dynamic Panel Data Estimates.

BACKGROUND: The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is more transmissible than prior variants of concern (VOCs). It has caused the largest outbreaks in the pandemic, with increases in mortality and hospitalizations. Early data on the spread of Omicron were captured in countries with relatively low case counts, so it was unclear how the arrival of Omicron would impact the trajectory of the pandemic in countries already experiencing high levels of community transmission of Delta. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to quantify and explain the impact of Omicron on pandemic trajectories and how they differ between countries that were or were not in a Delta outbreak at the time Omicron occurred. METHODS: We used SARS-CoV-2 surveillance and genetic sequence data to classify countries into 2 groups: those that were in a Delta outbreak (defined by at least 10 novel daily transmissions per 100,000 population) when Omicron was first sequenced in the country and those that were not. We used trend analysis, survival curves, and dynamic panel regression models to compare outbreaks in the 2 groups over the period from November 1, 2021, to February 11, 2022. We summarized the outbreaks in terms of their peak rate of SARS-CoV-2 infections and the duration of time the outbreaks took to reach the peak rate. RESULTS: Countries that were already in an outbreak with predominantly Delta lineages when Omicron arrived took longer to reach their peak rate and saw greater than a twofold increase (2.04) in the average apex of the Omicron outbreak compared to countries that were not yet in an outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that high community transmission of Delta at the time of the first detection of Omicron was not protective, but rather preluded larger outbreaks in those countries. Outbreak status may reflect a generally susceptible population, due to overlapping factors, including climate, policy, and individual behavior. In the absence of strong mitigation measures, arrival of a new, more transmissible variant in these countries is therefore more likely to lead to larger outbreaks. Alternately, countries with enhanced surveillance programs and incentives may be more likely to both exist in an outbreak status and detect more cases during an outbreak, resulting in a spurious relationship. Either way, these data argue against herd immunity mitigating future outbreaks with variants that have undergone significant antigenic shifts.

COVID-19 Government restriction policy, COVID-19 vaccination and stock markets: Evidence from a global perspective.

We use the COVID-19 stringency index to investigate the relationship among COVID-19 government restriction policy, COVID-19 vaccination and stock markets. We find that the impact of the change rate of COVID-19 stringency index on stock returns turns from significant in the pre-vaccination period to insignificant in the post-vaccination period. Bad news from COVID-19 restriction policy cause more stock volatilities than good news. The advent of COVID-19 vaccination weakens the linkage of COVID-19 stringency index and stock market, while COVID-19 stringency index only plays a partially mediate role in the correlation between COVID-19 cumulative vaccination rate and stock market performance.

The Effect of Covid-19 on the Stock Market of the Travel And Leisure Industry: Evidence from the United States

This study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of the US travel and leisure stock, using daily data sets from December 31, 2019 to December 2, 2020. Applying the multifactor model, which is an extension of the capital asset pricing model, the study examines how governmental announcements and policy measures to contain the pandemic situation impact the stock prices, controlling for confirmed cases, growth rates, and death rates owing to the pandemic. Further, to reduce the potential bias in heterogeneity, crucial macroeconomic regressors such as oil prices, exchange rates, and a volatility index are included. The study obtains a heterogeneous impact across quantiles. Government stringency measures negatively impact the travel and leisure stock prices, while the announcement of economic support programs positively impacts the stocks, particularly at the high-end quantiles. We advocate that the introduction of asset-light and fee-based strategies will enable the firms to overcome the adverse implications of the pandemic in the long run. This study offers major insights for protecting and developing the recovery of the travel and leisure stock market by considering the importance of government interventions and their effective implementation.

How reactive is investment in US green bonds and ESG-eligible stocks in times of crisis? Exploring the COVID-19 crisis.

This study examines how green bonds and environmental, social and governance (ESG) stock market returns have reacted to the COVID-19 crisis in the US. Unlike the Standard and Poor's (S&P) 500 index, the response of green bonds and ESG markets to pandemic progress is nonlinear: A low (large) level of confirmed new cases of COVID-19 has a positive (negative) impact. Furthermore, the implemented containment policies (stringency measures and vaccination campaigns) are positively valued, but their simultaneous use is perceived by investors as a bad signal. Overall, our findings question the resilience of investments in green bonds and ESG markets.

COVID-19 related stringencies and financial market volatility: sectoral evidence from India

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of the stringency of COVID-19 protocols on the volatility of sectoral indices during the period 03:2020-05:2021. Specifically, this study investigates the role of economic disturbances on sectoral volatility by applying a range of conditional volatility techniques. Design/methodology/approachFor this analysis, two approaches were adopted. The first approach considers COVID stringency as a factor in the conditional variance equation of sectoral indices. In contrast, the second approach considers the stringency indicator as a possible determinant of their estimated conditional volatility. FindingsResults show that the stringency of the protocols throughout the pandemic phase led to an instantaneous spike followed by a gradual decrease in estimated volatility of all the sectoral indices except pharma and health care. Specific sectors such as bank, FMCG, consumer durables, financial services, IT, media and private banks respond to protocols expeditiously compared to other sectors. Originality/valueThe key contribution of this study to the existing literature is the innovative approach. The inclusion of the COVID stringency index as a regressor in the variance equation of the conditional volatility techniques was a distinctive approach for assessing the volatility dynamics with the stringency of COVID protocols. Furthermore, this study also adopts an alternative approach that estimates the conditional volatility of the indices and then tests the effect of the stringencies on estimated volatility in a regression framework.

Innovation sharing a remedial measure: the case of Covid-19 pandemic

Purpose: This study has aimed to analyse the role of innovation-sharing collaboration in the large-scale manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccination across the globe and its impact on the mortality rate of the countries where the pharmaceutical manufacturers received such innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The authors have relied upon the difference-in-difference (DID) approach by utilizing the data available on public platforms such as World Health Organization (WHO) databank, organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) data bank, istat, Indian bureau of statistics and European centre for disease prevention and control (ecdc) from 2020 to 2021 to establish the empirical inference of the analysis. Findings: This study's results present that after the invention and commercialization of the vaccine, the Covid-19 impact was still intact and people were dying continuously. However, it was impossible to fulfil the demand of the 7 billion population in a short time. In the light of these facts, the WHO encouraged sharing vaccine innovation with other countries to enhance production capacity. The authors found that after vaccine innovation sharing, Covid-19's devastation slowed: the fatality rate was marginally reduced, and economic conditions started their recovery journey. Originality/value: This study's findings present that the Covid-19 vaccine played a pivotal role in tackling the Covid-19's devastating impact on the entire world. It emphasizes the role of innovation-sharing collaborations in curtailing hazardous consequences, including the mortality rate during a crisis, and such collaborations' impact on the countries where institutions involved in them reside. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.