Act early to prevent infections and save lives

• Verfasst von: Chen, Simiao [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Jin, Zhangfeng [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Vollmer, Sebastian [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Bärnighausen, Till [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Bloom, David E. [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Act early to prevent infections and save lives
• Titelzusatz: causal impact of diagnostic efficiency on the COVID-19 pandemic
• Verf.angabe: Simiao Chen, Zhangfeng Jin, Sebastian Vollmer, Till Bärnighausen, David E. Bloom
• Verlagsort: Essen
• Verlag: Global Labor Organization (GLO)
• Jahr: 2021
• Umfang: 1 Online-Ressource (circa 44 Seiten)
• Illustrationen: Illustrationen
• Gesamttitel/Reihe: GLO discussion paper ; no. 931
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• Sach-SW: Diagnostic Efficiency
• Sach-SW: Information Disclosure
• Sach-SW: Social Distancing
• Sach-SW: COVID-19
• Sach-SW: China
• K10plus-PPN: 1770894306

Abstract

This paper examines the causal impact of diagnostic efficiency on the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Using an instrumental variable approach, we show that a 1-day decrease in the time taken to confirm the first case in a city publicly led to 9.4% and 12.7% reductions in COVID-19 prevalence and mortality over the subsequent six months, respectively. The impact was larger for cities that are farther from the COVID-19 epicenter, are exposed to less migration, have more responsive public health systems, and have higher-capacity utilization of health systems. Social distancing and a less burdened health system are likely underlying mechanisms.