Dataset Information

Effects of COVID-19 government travel restrictions on mobility in a rural border area of Northern Thailand: A mobile phone tracking study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Thailand is among the top five countries with effective COVID-19 transmission control. This study examines how news of presence of COVID-19 in Thailand, as well as varying levels of government restriction on movement, affected human mobility in a rural Thai population along the border with Myanmar.

Methods

This study makes use of mobility data collected using a smartphone app. Between November 2019 and June 2020, four major events concerning information dissemination or government intervention give rise to five time intervals of analysis. Radius of gyration is used to analyze movement in each interval, and movement during government-imposed curfew. Human mobility network visualization is used to identify changes in travel patterns between main geographic locations of activity. Cross-border mobility analysis highlights potential for intervillage and intercountry disease transmission.

Results

Inter-village and cross-border movement was common in the pre-COVID-19 period. Radius of gyration and cross-border trips decreased following news of the first imported cases. During the government lockdown period, radius of gyration was reduced by more than 90% and cross-border movement was mostly limited to short-distance trips. Human mobility was nearly back to normal after relaxation of the lockdown.

Conclusions

This study provides insight into the impact of the government lockdown policy on an area with extremely low socio-economic status, poor healthcare resources, and highly active cross-border movement. The lockdown had a great impact on reducing individual mobility, including cross-border movement. The quick return to normal mobility after relaxation of the lockdown implies that close monitoring of disease should be continued to prevent a second wave.

SUBMITTER: Haddawy P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7857734 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Effects of COVID-19 government travel restrictions on mobility in a rural border area of Northern Thailand: A mobile phone tracking study.

Haddawy Peter P Lawpoolsri Saranath S Sa-Ngamuang Chaitawat C Su Yin Myat M Barkowsky Thomas T Wiratsudakul Anuwat A Kaewkungwal Jaranit J Khamsiriwatchara Amnat A Sa-Angchai Patiwat P Sattabongkot Jetsumon J Cui Liwang L

PloS one 20210203 2

<h4>Background</h4>Thailand is among the top five countries with effective COVID-19 transmission control. This study examines how news of presence of COVID-19 in Thailand, as well as varying levels of government restriction on movement, affected human mobility in a rural Thai population along the border with Myanmar.<h4>Methods</h4>This study makes use of mobility data collected using a smartphone app. Between November 2019 and June 2020, four major events concerning information dissemination or ...[more]

PMID: 33534857

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Project description:BackgroundRestricting human mobility is an effective strategy used to control disease spread. However, whether mobility restriction is a proportional response to control the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is unclear. We aimed to develop a model that can quantify the potential effects of various intracity mobility restrictions on the spread of COVID-19.MethodsIn this modelling study, we used anonymous and aggregated mobile phone sightings data to build a susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered transmission model for COVID-19 based on the city of Shenzhen, China. We simulated how disease spread changed when we varied the type and magnitude of mobility restrictions in different transmission scenarios, with variables such as the basic reproductive number (R 0), length of infectious period, and the number of initial cases.Findings331 COVID-19 cases distributed across the ten regions of Shenzhen were reported on Feb 7, 2020. In our basic scenario (R 0 of 2·68), mobility reduction of 20-60% within the city had a notable effect on controlling COVID-19 spread: a flattening of the peak number of cases by 33% (95% UI 21-42) and delay to the peak number by 2 weeks with a 20% restriction, 66% (48-75) reduction and 4 week delay with a 40% restriction, and 91% (79-95) reduction and 14 week delay with a 60% restriction. The effects of mobility restriction were increased when combined with reductions of 25% or 50% in transmissibility of the virus. In specific analyses of mobility restrictions for individuals with symptomatic infections and for high-risk regions, these measures also had substantial effects on reducing the spread of COVID-19. For example, the peak of the epidemic was delayed by 2 weeks if the proportion of individuals with symptomatic infections who could move freely was maintained at 20%, and by 4 weeks if two high-risk regions were locked down. The simulation results were also affected by various transmission parameters.InterpretationOur model shows the effects of various types and magnitudes of mobility restrictions on controlling COVID-19 outbreaks at the city level in Shenzhen, China. The model could help policy makers to establish the optimal combinations of mobility restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to assess the potential positive effects of mobility restriction on public health in view of the potential negative economic and societal effects.FundingGuangdong Medical Science Fund, and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Dataset Information

Effects of COVID-19 government travel restrictions on mobility in a rural border area of Northern Thailand: A mobile phone tracking study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Effects of COVID-19 government travel restrictions on mobility in a rural border area of Northern Thailand: A mobile phone tracking study.

Similar Datasets

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