Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

August 13, 2020

Social Distancing to Slow the US COVID-19 Epidemic: Longitudinal Pretest-Posttest Comparison Group Study

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  • Siedner et al. reported the mean daily COVID-19 incidence rate decreased beginning 4 days after implementation of statewide social distancing measures in the US by 1% per day. The COVID-19-attributed mortality rate decreased beginning 7 days after implementation by 2% per day. The authors emphasize caution in interpreting these results due to potential bias resulting from the aggregate nature of the ecological data, potential confounding by contemporaneous changes, and spillover effects from neighboring states.  

Siedner et al. (Aug 11, 2020). Social Distancing to Slow the US COVID-19 Epidemic: Longitudinal Pretest-Posttest Comparison Group Study. PLoS Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003244