The closure of restaurants and the ban on large demonstrations have reduced the number of hospitalizations due to Covid, according to a study. For the other measures studied, the results do not allow clear and certain conclusions to be drawn.
The closure of restaurants has led to an estimated drop of between 28 and 41 percent in Covid-related hospitalizations, according to the study on the impact of non-pharmaceutical measures taken in the event of a pandemic. The authors of the study commissioned by Seco and published on Tuesday came to a similar conclusion regarding the ban on large events. They had a significant effect on the number of hospitalizations.
The restaurant data is statistically significant and broadly consolidated across the different models, the study authors wrote. For the other measures, the results were less clear. Thus, the data for closing bars suggested the desired effect, but the study authors might not rule out issues of causation.
Ditto for the results on store closures. They were so scattered that it was not possible to draw clear conclusions.
Opposite effect
The results for outdoor measurements are said to be surprising. The data does indeed suggest that restrictions on outdoor gatherings are having a rather upward effect on the number of hospitalizations.
According to the authors of the study, from Swiss Economics in Zurich, the data is certainly not consolidated, but quite plausible. Indeed, in the event of a ban on outdoor gatherings, participants turn indoors, where the risk of contagion is higher.
Regarding the requirement to wear a mask in restaurants and the restrictions during indoor gatherings, the available data do not allow to draw clear conclusions. The study also did not give a clear picture regarding the measures taken for sporting events and nightclubs. Here once more causal or endogeneity effects might not be excluded.
/ATS
