SARS-CoV-2 - Related Nonpharmaceutical Interventions in Atlantic Canada, Japan, Slovakia, and Sweeden

Abstract

At the end of 2019 a new pandemic of respiratory infection started and affected every continent (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). Since the Chinese Ministry of Health announced a new pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan province caused by SARS- CoV-2 virus, countries around the world started preparations for their own epidemic response. Actions of Japan, Slovakia, Sweden, and four provinces of Atlantic Canada were analyzed for association of their adopted measures with morbidity and mortality of their population. While both nonpharmaceutical and pharmaceutical interventions were necessary for the best outcomes, nonpharmaceutical interventions aiming on decrease of population mobility and interpersonal contact, such as limitations of international and domestic travel, lockdowns or curfews, teleworking and telemedicine, banned visits to vulnerable populations, caps on gatherings, physical distancing, isolation of confirmed cases and their contacts, and covering nose and mouth, had significant effect on size of waves of infection and on mortality of infected.