Travel Bans Are of Limited Value in Thwarting the Spread of CO | COVID-19 Up

Travel Bans Are of Limited Value in Thwarting the Spread of COVID-19, Study Shows

@COVID19Up: Travel bans have been key to efforts by many countries to control the spread of COVID-19. But new research aimed at providing a decision support system to Italian policy makers, recently published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, suggests that reducing individual activity (i.e., social distancing, closure of non-essential business, etc.) is far superior in controlling the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2.

The research, which has implications for the U.S. and other countries, found that limiting personal mobility through travel restrictions and similar tactics is effective only in the first phases of the epidemic, and reduces in proportion to the spread of infection across a population.

"While this project was focused specifically on Italy, the results are revelatory for virtually any country relying on travel restrictions to stem the spread of the pandemic. We look forward to using US data to tune the model and give specific answers to combat this delicate phase of the pandemic," said Maurizio Porfiri, Institute Professor of mechanical and aerospace, biomedical and civil and urban engineering at NYU Tandon and a member of the Center for Urban Science and Progress.
SOURCE | TIP

Join the discussion:
➔ @COVID1984chat