Why Do Countries Respond Differently to COVID-19? A Comparative Study of Sweden, China, France, and Japan

Yan, Bo; Zhang, Xiaomin; Wu, Long; Zhu, Heng; Chen, Bin

doi:10.1177/0275074020942445

Cited by 205 publications

(175 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

155

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Although Japan has a unitary government system, sub-national governments have gained a fair amount of autonomy in the policy-making process [ 44 ]. With the influence of the severe crisis of the Diamond Princess cruise ship [ 45 ], the relatively less strict response strategy attributed to its decentralized regime and tight cultural orientation [ 46 ] has controlled the epidemic as well as brought a degree of unease and panic to the public.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Knowledge, Precaution Practice, and Associated Depression Symptoms among University Students in Korea, China, and Japan

‍Zhao

Kong

Aung

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study assessed university students’ knowledge and precaution practices of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in South Korea, China, and Japan, and investigated their depressive states during the pandemic. This cross-sectional survey collected data from 821 respondents, using an anonymous online questionnaire designed by the Yonsei Global Health Center, from 23 March to 20 April 2020, which included socio-demographic questions, knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19, preventative practices, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale to assess mental health. High proportions of respondents showed good knowledge of the transmission pathways and information related to COVID-19. Contact history as well as concerns about family members and the disease showed statistically significant distinctions by nationality and gender. On the whole, all participants reported good levels of preventative practices. The Chinese group reported the highest preventative practice scores; and females scored higher than males. Moreover, the Japanese group showed the most severe depressive states; overall, females experienced more severe depression than males. Thus, authorities should especially emphasize the importance of COVID-19 precautions to males. Educational departments and health authorities should observe the mental health of university adults during the pandemic and plan interventions to improve it.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Knowledge, Precaution Practice, and Associated Depression Symptoms among University Students in Korea, China, and Japan

‍Zhao

Kong

Aung

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Given both countries shunned a stay-at-home order, other preventive measures have to account for the significant difference in dynamics though Iceland's remoteness may have helped. Still, Sweden is an outlier at least among Northern and Western European countries in more than one respect (Conyon et al, 2020;Helsingen et al, 2020;Yan et al, 2020) and its government did not try hard to reduce the incidence rate during the first wave.…”

Section: Pandemic Dynamics: a Simple Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lockdown policies and the dynamics of the first wave of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic in Europe

Plümper

Neumayer

2020

Journal of European Public Policy

116

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper follows European countries as they struggled through the first wave of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic. We analyze when countries were confronted with the virus, how long it took until the number of new infections peaked and at what level of infections that peak was achieved via social distancing and lockdown policies. Most European countries were able to successfully end the first wave of the pandemicdefined as a two-week incidence rate smaller than 10 cases per 100,000 people. We find that countries in which the virus made significant landfall later in time enjoyed a latecomer advantage that some of these countries squandered, however, by not responding quickly enough and that an early lockdown was more effective than a hard lockdown.

show abstract

“…Norway was one of the most successful countries in controlling the COVID-19 using the capacity of regional and local enterprises such as municipalities [48]. Furthermore, due to the delegation of strong power to local organizations in Japan, local governments in Tokyo and Hokkaido responded to the COVID-19 outbreak earlier than the national government [49].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizens’ Expectations from Government in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study in Iran

Zarei

Shahabi

Sadati

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The government is the main body in charge of controlling epidemics; hence, expectations from government’s intention and capacity would affect citizens’ behavior and flexibility. Given the severity of COVID-19 pandemic and an urgent need for people's cooperation in the prevention and combat processes, understanding the public perspectives would be crucial and instructive. This study aimed to explore such perspectives towards the current pandemic among the Iranian. Indeed, we sought to provide a favorable platform for effective policies in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic by recognizing public expectations.Methods: This qualitative study used an open-ended online questionnaire to investigate the common perspectives of the Iranian towards government’s response to COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were selected using snowball and convenient sampling techniques across the country. The collected data were analyzed and described using thematic content analysis. Results: In general, 2547 participants agreed to participate in this study and completed the online questionnaire. According to the findings, the Iranian exhibited several expectations regarding the government's response to COVID-19 pandemic, based on which three main themes were extracted: (1) health-related expectations, (2) policy-related expectations, and (3) mass media-related expectations. In this study, a majority of the participants highlighted the need to consider and follow-up the patients and their families, provide financial and hygiene support during the pandemic, apply strict restrictions, and have close monitoring and controlling procedures. Furthermore, they mentioned that authorities and news agencies should observe honesty and transparency principals.Conclusions: Our findings revealed that people expect the government and other responsible institutions to minimize the burden of this pandemic on them through adopting effective policies. The study findings could help policy-makers become aware of people's expectations and develop better strategies.

show abstract

Why Do Countries Respond Differently to COVID-19? A Comparative Study of Sweden, China, France, and Japan

Cited by 205 publications

References 42 publications

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Knowledge, Precaution Practice, and Associated Depression Symptoms among University Students in Korea, China, and Japan

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Knowledge, Precaution Practice, and Associated Depression Symptoms among University Students in Korea, China, and Japan

Lockdown policies and the dynamics of the first wave of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic in Europe

Citizens’ Expectations from Government in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study in Iran

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About