Research Information System
DISCOVER PUBLIC HEALTH, vol.22, pp.1-16, 2025 (ESCI)
The main goal of this study is to empirically verify, for the first time, the working hypothesis whether nations that adopted high-restriction and compulsory measures exhibit demonstrably lower-case fatality rates and superior economic performance during COVID-19 pandemic crisis, compared to countries that embraced low-restriction and mitigation-based policy responses.
The research compares a sample of countries with high and low levels of restrictions, analyzing average mean and standard deviation, bivariate and partial correlation and Independent Samples T-test between following variables: Stringency Index for the years 2020–2022, GDP change as a percentage over 2020–2021, health spending as a percentage of GDP, 2008–2018, death rate per 1,000 individuals in 2022, deaths divided by infected people (%) in 2022 and percentage of the population immunized with vaccines against COVID-19 in 2022.
The findings suggest that strict restrictions don’t necessarily lead to lower death rates (slightly higher mortality of COVID-19 is in countries having high restriction policies); Moreover, stringent restrictions are not associated with a significant economic advantage (potentially even a negative impact on GDP growth).
The study suggests that strict containment strategies alone may be insufficient measures to control the pandemic’s impact in society, damaging, additionally, economic performance in countries. These findings show the complexity of COVID-19 dynamics and impact of policy responses because of manifold factors and lessons learned can inform improvements of pandemic responses based on evidence-based policymaking to face next emergencies.