The Effectiveness of School Closures and Other Pre-Lockdown COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies in Argentina, Italy, and South Korea

Claudio Neidhöfer and Guido Neidhöfer
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Claudio Neidhöfer: Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, University Hospital Bonn

CEDLAS, Working Papers from CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Abstract: The rapid spread of COVID-19 forced policy-makers to swiftly find solutions to reduce infection rates and keep mortality as low as possible. Empirical analyses on the effectiveness of control measures are hereby of primary importance. School closures were among the earliest measures enacted by the governments of most countries. However, while schools are now reopening in many countries, the impact of school closures on the course of the epidemic is still an open question. Adopting parametric and non-parametric synthetic control methods we estimate the effectiveness of pro-active school closures, and other early social distancing interventions, in three countries that reacted relatively early during the course of the pandemic. Our findings suggest that these interventions were effective at reducing the mortality rate of COVID-19, especially when enacted early.

JEL-codes: I18 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2020-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: The effectiveness of school closures and other pre-lockdown COVID-19 mitigation strategies in Argentina, Italy, and South Korea (2020)
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