mobile-layout-image

MEASURES AGAINST COVID-19

All the countries try to contain the pandemic by implementing a variety of preventing measures. The graph below demonstrates European countries percentage, that imposed every measures.

Measures Imposed - Europe

Measures Imposed - Europe

The measures that implied by more than 70% of the countries were: limitations of gatherings, school closure, economic measures, strengthening health system, restrictions in travelling and Lockdowns.

The graphs (Area Plots) that follow show some of the most important measures that governments imposed to fight the pandemic. The graphs describe the severity of the measures during the months of pandemic. The table below shows the levels of severity for the measures.

Measures Severity

NameSeverity
School closing
  • 0 - no measures
  • 1 - recommend closing or all schools open with alterations resulting in significant differences compared to non-Covid-19 operations
  • 2 - require closing (only some levels or categories, eg just high school, or just public schools)
  • 3 - require closing all levels
Workplace closing
  • 0 - no measures
  • 1 - recommend closing (or recommend work from home)
  • 2 - require closing (or work from home) for some sectors or categories of workers
  • 3 - require closing (or work from home) for all-but-essential workplaces (eg grocery stores, doctors)
Cancel public events
  • 0 - no measures
  • 1 - recommend cancelling
  • 2 - require cancelling
Restrictions on gatherings
  • 0 - no restrictions
  • 1 - restrictions on very large gatherings (the limit is above 1000 people)
  • 2 - restrictions on gatherings between 101-1000 people
  • 3 - restrictions on gatherings between 11-100 people
  • 4 - restrictions on gatherings of 10 people or less
Restrictions on internal movement
  • 0 - no measures
  • 1 - recommend not to travel between regions/cities
  • 2 - internal movement restrictions in place
International travel controls
  • 0 - no restrictions
  • 1 - screening arrivals
  • 2 - quarantine arrivals from some or all regions
  • 3 - ban arrivals from some regions
  • 4 - ban on all regions or total border closure
Facial Coverings
  • 0 - No policy
  • 1 - Recommended
  • 2 - Required in some specified shared/public spaces outside the home with other people present, or some situations when social distancing not possible
  • 3 - Required in all shared/public spaces outside the home with other people present or all situations when social distancing not possible
  • 4 - Required outside the home at all times regardless of location or presence of other people

School Closing

School Closing

Workplace Closing

Workplace Closing

Cancel Public Events

Cancel Public Events

Restrictions on Gatherings

Restrictions on Gatherings

Restrictions on Internal Movement

Restrictions on Internal Movement

International Travel Control

International Travel Control

Facial Masks

Facial Masks

The above measures influenced country population mobility as the following graph demonstrates.

Mobility in Europe

-100-5005010015020025/1/2025/2/2025/3/2025/4/2025/5/2025/6/2025/7/2025/8/2025/9/2025/10/2025/11/2025/12/2025/1/2125/2/2125/3/2125/4/2125/5/21Parks Mobility MA7Transport Usage MA7Workplace Mobility MA7Stay at home index MA7Total Mobility MA7

All along the three waves of the pandemic (Feb 2020-May 2021) we see a considerable reduction in mobility in most European countries due to lockdown policies. Overall mobility remained low apart from Park mobility, which increased during the summer months and generally remained higher that other activities, as it was the only recreation option. Government policies such as work from home or closing business kept mobility low, while the good weather encouraged outdoor mobility.