eprintid: 10173521
rev_number: 7
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/17/35/21
datestamp: 2023-07-19 09:09:34
lastmod: 2023-07-19 09:09:34
status_changed: 2023-07-19 09:09:34
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Velias, A
creators_name: Georganas, S
creators_name: Vandoros, S
title: COVID-19: Early evening curfews and mobility
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
keywords: Covid-19, Curfews, Mobility, Non-pharmaceutical interventions, Substitution, COVID-19, Communicable Disease Control, Greece, Humans, Pandemics, SARS-CoV-2
note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, some countries introduced early evening curfews. Several studies try to measure the effectiveness of such measures across different countries, but disentangling competing effects can be elusive. We examined the impact of an early evening curfew on mobility by studying a shift in curfews from 9pm to 6pm in Greece using Google mobility data. We followed a difference-in-differences (DiD) econometric approach, where we compared trends in mobility in residential spaces as well as groceries and pharmacies, before and after the introduction of the 6pm curfew in Attica with trends in three other comparable Regions. We found little or no evidence of an effect of the early curfew on daily mobility relating to groceries and pharmacies, and that an 18.75% reduction in hours where people were allowed to leave home led to a relatively small increase in time spent in residential spaces. This less-than-proportionate reduction in mobility outside the household suggests a possibility that the curfew led to more people coinciding in indoor public spaces, such as grocery shops – which constitutes a contagion risk factor. Results should be treated with caution, especially with regards to the magnitude of any effect, as Google mobility data do not report the time of the day, so the time density of activities cannot be estimated. Lockdowns and other measures are necessary to tackle Covid-19, but it is important to avoid substitution by activities that contribute further to spreading the virus. Interventions should therefore be based on a thorough analysis of human behaviour.
date: 2022-01-01
date_type: published
publisher: Elsevier BV
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114538
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2037276
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114538
medium: Print-Electronic
pii: S0277-9536(21)00870-4
lyricists_name: Vandoros, Sotiris
lyricists_id: SVAND88
actors_name: Vandoros, Sotiris
actors_id: SVAND88
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Social Science and Medicine
volume: 292
article_number: 114538
event_location: England
issn: 0277-9536
citation:        Velias, A;    Georganas, S;    Vandoros, S;      (2022)    COVID-19: Early evening curfews and mobility.                   Social Science and Medicine , 292     , Article 114538.  10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114538 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114538>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10173521/1/curfews_SSM_2021.pdf