Effects of non-compulsory and mandatory COVID-19 interventions on travel distance and time away from home, Norway, 2021

Kamineni, Meghana; Engø‐Monsen, Kenth; Midtbø, J. E.; Forland, Frode; Blasio, Birgitte Freiesleben de; Frigessi, Arnoldo; Engebretsen, Solveig

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.es.2023.28.17.2200382

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…Fifth, a key limitation of this study is that the contact matrix used was obtained during the pre-pandemic period. It is likely that the pandemic has changed contact patterns, with older populations likely reducing their contacts more in the first half of 2021 [ 80 ]. Regarding our estimates on the susceptibilities to infection, which decrease by age (except aged 50–59 years), this differs from the findings in other modeling studies [ 81 – 83 ] and cohort studies [ 84 , 85 ].…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling geographic vaccination strategies for COVID-19 in Norway

Chan,

Rø,

Midtbø

et al. 2024

PLoS Comput Biol

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Vaccination was a key intervention in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic globally. In early 2021, Norway faced significant regional variations in COVID-19 incidence and prevalence, with large differences in population density, necessitating efficient vaccine allocation to reduce infections and severe outcomes. This study explored alternative vaccination strategies to minimize health outcomes (infections, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, deaths) by varying regions prioritized, extra doses prioritized, and implementation start time. Using two models (individual-based and meta-population), we simulated COVID-19 transmission during the primary vaccination period in Norway, covering the first 7 months of 2021. We investigated alternative strategies to allocate more vaccine doses to regions with a higher force of infection. We also examined the robustness of our results and highlighted potential structural differences between the two models. Our findings suggest that early vaccine prioritization could reduce COVID-19 related health outcomes by 8% to 20% compared to a baseline strategy without geographic prioritization. For minimizing infections, hospitalizations, or ICU admissions, the best strategy was to initially allocate all available vaccine doses to fewer high-risk municipalities, comprising approximately one-fourth of the population. For minimizing deaths, a moderate level of geographic prioritization, with approximately one-third of the population receiving doubled doses, gave the best outcomes by balancing the trade-off between vaccinating younger people in high-risk areas and older people in low-risk areas. The actual strategy implemented in Norway was a two-step moderate level aimed at maintaining the balance and ensuring ethical considerations and public trust. However, it did not offer significant advantages over the baseline strategy without geographic prioritization. Earlier implementation of geographic prioritization could have more effectively addressed the main wave of infections, substantially reducing the national burden of the pandemic.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling geographic vaccination strategies for COVID-19 in Norway

Chan,

Rø,

Midtbø

et al. 2024

PLoS Comput Biol

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“…Furthermore, the information gathered through social surveys can be complemented by research utilising non-standard data sources. These may include data streams such as mobile phone tracking to monitor movement patterns [39]. Such multi-faceted research is essential for enhancing our understanding of the dynamic interaction between physical distancing measures, disease prevalence, and population response.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social contact patterns during the early COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: insights from a panel study, April to September 2020

Veneti,

Robberstad,

Steens

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

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Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries adopted social distance measures and lockdowns of varying strictness. Social contact patterns are essential in driving the spread of respiratory infections, and country-specific measurements are needed. This study aimed to gain insights into changes in social contacts and behaviour during the early pandemic phase in Norway. Methods We conducted an online panel study among a nationally representative sample of Norwegian adults by age and gender. The panel study included six data collections waves between April and September 2020, and 2017 survey data from a random sample of the Norwegian population (including children < 18 years old) were used as baseline. The market research company Ipsos was responsible for carrying out the 2020 surveys. We calculated mean daily contacts, and estimated age-stratified contact matrices during the study period employing imputation of child-to-child contacts. We used the next-generation method to assess the relative reduction of R0 and compared the results to reproduction numbers estimated for Norway during the 2020 study period. Results Over the six waves in 2020, 5 938 observations/responses were registered from 1 718 individuals who reported data on 22 074 contacts. The mean daily number of contacts among adults varied between 3.2 (95%CI 3.0-3.4) to 3.9 (95%CI 3.6–4.2) across the data collection waves, representing a 67–73% decline compared to pre-pandemic levels (baseline). Fewer contacts in the community setting largely drove the reduction; the drop was most prominent among younger adults. Despite gradual easing of social distance measures during the survey period, the estimated population contact matrices remained relatively stable and displayed more inter-age group mixing than at baseline. Contacts within households and the community outside schools and workplaces contributed most to social encounters. Using the next-generation method R0 was found to be roughly 25% of pre-pandemic levels during the study period, suggesting controlled transmission. Conclusion Social contacts declined significantly in the months following the March 2020 lockdown, aligning with implementation of stringent social distancing measures. These findings contribute valuable empirical information into the social behaviour in Norway during the early pandemic, which can be used to enhance policy-relevant models for addressing future crises when mitigation measures might be implemented.

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“…Furthermore, the information gathered through social surveys can be complemented by research utilising non-standard data sources. These may include data streams such as mobile phone tracking to monitor movement patterns (31). Such multi-faceted research is essential for enhancing our understanding of the dynamic interaction between physical distancing measures, disease prevalence, and population response.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social contact patterns during the early COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: insights from a panel study, April to September 2020

Veneti,

Robberstad,

Steens

et al. 2023

Preprint

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BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries adopted social distance measures and lockdowns of varying strictness. Social contact patterns are essential in driving the spread of respiratory infections, and country-specific measurements are needed. This study aimed to gain insights into changes in social contacts and behaviour during the early pandemic phase in Norway.MethodsWe conducted an online survey among a nationally representative sample of Norwegian adults, including six data collections/waves between April and September 2020, and used survey data from 2017 as baseline. We calculated mean daily contacts, and estimated age-stratified contact matrices that were used to estimate reproduction numbers during the study period.ResultsThe mean daily number of contacts varied between 3.2 (95% CI 3.0-3.4) to 3.9 (95% CI 3.6-4.2) across waves, representing a 67-73% decline compared to pre-pandemic levels. Fewer contacts in the community setting largely drove the reduction; the drop was most prominent among younger adults. Despite gradual easing of social distance measures during the survey period, population contact matrices remained relatively stable and displayed more inter-age group mixing than at baseline. Contacts within households and the community outside schools and workplaces contributed most to social encounters.ConclusionSocial contacts experienced a significant decline during the months following the March 2020 lockdown in Norway, aligning with the implementation of stringent social distancing measures. The findings contribute valuable empirical information into the social behaviour of the Norwegian population during the early pandemic, which can be used to enhance policy-relevant models for addressing future crises when mitigation measures might be implemented.

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Effects of non-compulsory and mandatory COVID-19 interventions on travel distance and time away from home, Norway, 2021

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Modeling geographic vaccination strategies for COVID-19 in Norway

Modeling geographic vaccination strategies for COVID-19 in Norway

Social contact patterns during the early COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: insights from a panel study, April to September 2020

Social contact patterns during the early COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: insights from a panel study, April to September 2020

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