City-Specific Effects of Lifting Mobility Restrictions - China, February-March 2020

Shasha Han; Libing Ma; Ting Zhang; Luzhao Feng; Weizhong Yang; Xiaoying Zheng

doi:10.46234/ccdcw2022.142

City-Specific Effects of Lifting Mobility Restrictions - China, February-March 2020

China CDC Wkly. 2022 Aug 5;4(31):673-679. doi: 10.46234/ccdcw2022.142.

Authors

Shasha Han^{1

2}, Libing Ma^{2

3}, Ting Zhang², Luzhao Feng², Weizhong Yang², Xiaoying Zheng²

Affiliations

¹ Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
² School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.

Abstract

What is already known about this topic?: Government used mobility restrictions to help contain the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) across cities in China. The restrictions were lifted during times of non-zero incidence in response to a return to work order that went into effect on February 10, 2020.

What is added by this report?: The effect of lifting mobility restrictions on COVID-19 death rate and incidence varied by city, with smaller increases or even reductions in cities with low community connectivity and small floating volume, and larger increases in cities with high community connectivity and large floating volume. Effects on recovery rates were similar across cities.

What are the implications for public health practice?: City-specific mobility restriction lifting is likely to be beneficial. Two indexes, community connectivity and floating volume, can inform the design of city-specific mobility restriction lifting policies.

Keywords: COVID-19; City-specific effects; mobility restrictions.

Copyright and License information: Editorial Office of CCDCW, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2022.

Grants and funding

Supported by grants from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (2020-I2M-1-001); Non-profit Central Research Institute Fund of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences(2021-RC330-002); and Guilin talent mini-highland scientific research project for COVID-19 prevention and control (Municipal Committee Talent Office of Guilin City [2020] No. 3-05)