December 16, 2020

The Effect of Shelter-in-Place Orders on Social Distancing and the Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study of Texas

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions

Keywords (Tags): non-pharm interventions, public health policy

A study of the impacts of shelter-in-place policies in Texas found that the growth rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths decreased when a large percentage of the population stayed home. The greatest number of people sheltering occurred during the first week of the policy implementation, and steadily declined thereafter. The study did not find evidence that a top-down restrictive policy increased the number of people who practiced social distancing, and the authors suggest that shelter-in-place policies may be more effective at the local level.

Castaneda and Saygili. (Nov 26, 2020). The Effect of Shelter-in-Place Orders on Social Distancing and the Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study of Texas. Frontiers in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.596607