State of the Pandemic, Science, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom
development

Organisations. Science
Period. 14 – 21 July 2020
  • A new study in Science demonstrates the need for a coordinated approach for countries in Europe to lift lockdown measures in order to prevent subsequent outbreaks of cases. The research team from WorldPop highlight the significant impact of actions by countries that are populous, well-connected and with strong interventionsin place – which include France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK. The study produced over 1,200 exit strategy scenarios, using publicly available epidemiological data as well as anonymized mobile phone data to map population movement in 35 European countries. A notable finding of the study is that premature and uncoordinated easing of control measures by some countries could accelerate the resurgence of COVID-19 outbreaks across the entire continent by up to five weeks. The simulations furthermore show that synchronizing intermittent lockdowns across countries would lead to half as many necessary lockdown periods in order to achieve an end to community transmission in six months.

 


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