Towards a comprehensive COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions’ index for the province of Quebec.

Abstract

Objectives: The primary objective of this project was to develop a comprehensive COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions’ index for the province of Quebec (QCnPI-Index), Canada. The resulting and open access database systematically categorizes, multiple non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the 17 administrative regions (AR) of the province of Quebec in the form of an index. Data description: Data represent interventions and groups of interventions implemented during the COVID-19 period in Quebec. They are a compilation of policies, guidelines, and governmental interventions related to COVID-19, considering temporal and geographical dimensions. Data were collected, from March 2020 to July 2022, for all 17 ARs of Quebec using dates and ARs as unit of analysis. Data were collected and coded by an interdisciplinary research team. Contribution: This quantitative instrument offers the necessary granularity for nuanced spatial and temporal studies within the province of Quebec, using AR, for instance, as unit of analysis. With this database, pre-, during-, and post-COVID periods can thus be better analyzed. Additionally, the innovative methodologies employed for data collection, coding, and weighting offer valuable insights that may have broader applications in public health, epidemiology, and other research domains. The QCnPI-Index could be instrumental for public health, epidemiology, and transportation researchers investigating the multifaceted impacts of non-pharmaceutical interventions on various societal domains, such as road safety, alcohol and cannabis consumption, and/or mental health, in the province of Quebec.