COVID-19 data are messy: analytic methods for rigorous impact analyses with imperfect data

Stoto, ­Michael A.; Woolverton, Abbey; Kraemer, John; Barlow, Pepita; Clarke, Michael

doi:10.1186/s12992-021-00795-0

Cited by 20 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Researchers have also discussed how data on the timing of interventions, especially at the subnational and local levels, may be important but are rarely documented [23]. As such, another important result from this work is that most response activities in cities were reactively implemented after COVID-19 had already been confirmed in their city, as opposed to more proactively implemented.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban pandemic response: survey results describing the experiences from twenty-five cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Boyce

Asprilla

Loenen³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Since first being detected in Wuhan, China in late December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has demanded a response from all levels of government. While the role of local governments in routine public health functions is well understood, and the response to the pandemic has highlighted the importance of involving local governments in the response to and management of large, multifaceted challenges, their role in pandemic response remains more opaque. Accordingly, to better understand how local governments in cities were involved in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a survey involving cities in the Partnership for Healthy Cities to: (i) understand which levels of government were responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed regarding select pandemic response activities; (ii) document when response activities were implemented; (iii) characterize how challenging response activities were; and (iv) query about future engagement in pandemic and epidemic preparedness. Twenty-five cities from around the world completed the survey and we used descriptive statistics to summarize the urban experience in pandemic response. Our results show that national authorities were responsible and accountable for a majority of the activities considered, but that local governments were also responsible and accountable for key activities – especially risk communication and coordinating with community-based organizations and civil society organizations. Further, most response activities were implemented after COVID-19 had been confirmed in a city, many pandemic response activities proved to be challenging for local authorities, and nearly all local authorities envisioned being more engaged in pandemic preparedness and response following the COVID-19 pandemic. This descriptive research represents an important contribution to an expanding evidence base focused on improving the response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future outbreaks.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban pandemic response: survey results describing the experiences from twenty-five cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Boyce

Asprilla

Loenen³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finally, one may fear that our results can be affected by the quality of data as well as their comparability across countries (see [ 32 ] for a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of data sources on Covid-19). Data on Covid-19 threats and NPIs (such as the number of new cases and deaths) are likely to be subject to country and time biases due to multiple reasons (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-border mobility responses to COVID-19 in Europe: new evidence from facebook data

et al. 2022

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Background Assessing the impact of government responses to Covid-19 is crucial to contain the pandemic and improve preparedness for future crises. We investigate here the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and infection threats on the daily evolution of cross-border movements of people during the Covid-19 pandemic. We use a unique database on Facebook users’ mobility, and rely on regression and machine learning models to identify the role of infection threats and containment policies. Permutation techniques allow us to compare the impact and predictive power of these two categories of variables. Results In contrast with studies on within-border mobility, our models point to a stronger importance of containment policies in explaining changes in cross-border traffic as compared with international travel bans and fears of being infected. The latter are proxied by the numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths at destination. Although the ranking among coercive policies varies across modelling techniques, containment measures in the destination country (such as cancelling of events, restrictions on internal movements and public gatherings), and school closures in the origin country (influencing parental leaves) have the strongest impacts on cross-border movements. Conclusion While descriptive in nature, our findings have policy-relevant implications. Cross-border movements of people predominantly consist of labor commuting flows and business travels. These economic and essential flows are marginally influenced by the fear of infection and international travel bans. They are mostly governed by the stringency of internal containment policies and the ability to travel.

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“…Researchers have also discussed how data on the timing of interventions, especially at the subnational and local levels, may be important but are rarely documented [24]. As such, another important result from this work is that most response activities in cities were reactively implemented after COVID-19 had already been confirmed in their city, as opposed to more proactively implemented.…”

Section: Plos Global Public Healthmentioning

confidence: 98%

Urban pandemic response: Survey results describing the experiences from twenty-five cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Boyce

Asprilla

Loenen³

et al. 2022

PLOS Glob Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since first being detected in Wuhan, China in late December 2019, COVID-19 has demanded a response from all levels of government. While the role of local governments in routine public health functions is well understood–and the response to the pandemic has highlighted the importance of involving local governments in the response to and management of large, multifaceted challenges–their role in pandemic response remains more undefined. Accordingly, to better understand how local governments in cities were involved in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a survey involving cities in the Partnership for Healthy Cities to: (i) understand which levels of government were responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed regarding select pandemic response activities; (ii) document when response activities were implemented; (iii) characterize how challenging response activities were; and (iv) query about future engagement in pandemic and epidemic preparedness. Twenty-five cities from around the world completed the survey and we used descriptive statistics to summarize the urban experience in pandemic response. Our results show that national authorities were responsible and accountable for a majority of the activities considered, but that local governments were also responsible and accountable for key activities–especially risk communication and coordinating with community-based organizations and civil society organizations. Further, most response activities were implemented after COVID-19 had been confirmed in a city, many pandemic response activities proved to be challenging for local authorities, and nearly all local authorities envisioned being more engaged in pandemic preparedness and response following the COVID-19 pandemic. This descriptive research represents an important contribution to an expanding evidence base focused on improving the response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future outbreaks.

show abstract

COVID-19 data are messy: analytic methods for rigorous impact analyses with imperfect data

Cited by 20 publications

References 23 publications

Urban pandemic response: survey results describing the experiences from twenty-five cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Urban pandemic response: survey results describing the experiences from twenty-five cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cross-border mobility responses to COVID-19 in Europe: new evidence from facebook data

Urban pandemic response: Survey results describing the experiences from twenty-five cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

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