Social contact for daily activities during the COVID-19 pandemic in six developed countries

Hongxiang Ding and Junyi Zhang

Chapter 6 in Research Handbook on Transport and COVID-19, 2025, pp 127-150 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Social contact serves as a pivotal factor in the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Thus, comprehending the shifts in social contact patterns during the pandemic is paramount. This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of studies examining social contacts within the context of the pandemic. It introduces a novel social contact survey conducted across six developed nations—Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States—spanning from March to May 2021. The data facilitates the analysis of changes in individuals’ social contact behaviors between the pre-pandemic influenza season and the during-pandemic period across eight distinct contact settings. It not only calculates the total number of social contacts for all participants but also computes the mean number of social contacts for individuals maintaining their usual level of interactions during the pandemic. Moreover, this chapter reveals the diversity in social contacts across various personal attributes and settings, providing valuable insights into nuanced contact patterns. Ultimately, this chapter identifies contexts with heightened infection risks through social contacts and proposes targeted interventions for these settings. The findings presented herein serve as a foundation for future research on social contacts and furnish scientific evidence to guide policymaking in the post-pandemic landscape.

Keywords: Social contact; Contact setting; COVID; Pandemic; Influenza; Behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781802208009
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