COVID-19 Population Movement Decline... Sequential Effects of 'Gathering Ban → Restaurant Closure → School Suspension'

A notice stating "No gatherings of 5 or more people" is posted at a restaurant in Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] A study has found that among population movement restriction measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), banning gatherings, closing restaurants, and school closures are effective in that order.

On the 11th (local time), AFP reported that researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) analyzed various restriction measures implemented by the Swiss federal government last year to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and announced the results.

The researchers examined 1.5 billion regional communication data records in Switzerland from February 10 to April 26 last year. As a result, the measure banning gatherings of five or more people reduced population movement by 24.9%.

Following that, the closure of non-essential businesses such as restaurants and bars (22.3%) and school closures (21.6%) were found to have significant effects on reducing population movement.

Professor Stephan Foehriegel, head of the study and a professor of Management Information Systems at ETH, particularly focused on school closures, explaining, "When schools close, not only do children stay at home, but parents often change their mobility as well. School closures limit mobility and reduce the number of new COVID-19 cases."

As of the 8th, Switzerland, with a population of about 8.7 million, has a cumulative total of 477,983 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 8,267 deaths.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.