5. Included studies and ratings of methodological quality.
| Physical distancing measure | Study ID (type of study) | Quality, assessment tool |
| Contact tracing | Chung 2021(SR)# | Low, AMSTAR |
| Gilmore 2020(SR)#^ | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Heuvelings 2018 (SR)* | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Khorram‐Manesh 2021(SR)# | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Megnin‐Viggars 2020(SR)# | High, AMSTAR | |
| Saurabh 2017 (SR)* | Low, AMSTAR | |
| Szkwarko 2017 (SR)* | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Bodas 2020 (survey)# | Low‐moderate | |
| Isolation | WHO 2021(GL)# | Moderate, AGREE II |
| Cardwell 2021(SR)#^ | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Chu 2020(SR)#^ | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| ECDC 2020b(GL)# | Moderate&, AGREE II | |
| ECDC 2020a(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| Mao 2021(SR)# | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Mobasseri 2020(scoping review)# | Low, AMSTAR | |
| Regmi 2021(SR)# | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Seale 2020(SR)# | Low, AMSTAR | |
| WHO 2020c(GL)# | Moderate, AGREE II | |
| Burnet 2020 (qualitative)# | Moderate, CASP | |
| Burnet 2020a (qualitative)# | Moderate, CASP | |
| Farooq 2020 (survey)# | Low | |
| Qazi 2020 (survey)# | Low | |
| Quarantine | Brooks 2020 (SR)*^ | Low%, AMSTAR |
| Gomez‐Duran 2020(SR)#^ | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Lin 2014 (SR)* | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Sopory 2021(qualitative, SR)#^ | High, AMSTAR | |
| Webster 2020 (SR)#^ | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| WHO 2021b(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| Zhu 2020 (survey)# | Moderate | |
| School measures | Brooks 2020a (SR)*^ | Low%, AMSTAR |
| CDC 2022(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| CDC 2022a(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| CDC 2022b(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| DES 2020(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| Work measures | ‐ | ‐ |
| Crowd avoidance, including individual physical distancing measures | ECDC 2020(GL)# | Low, AGREE II |
| NACCHO 2006 (guideline)+* | Moderate, AGREE II | |
| PHAC 2021(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| PHAC 2021a(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| Teasdale 2014 (SR, qualitative)* | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Tooher 2013 (SR)* | High, AMSTAR | |
| WHO 2020b(GL)# | Moderate, AGREE II | |
| Eaton 2020 (scoping review)*^ | Low, AMSTAR | |
| Lor 2016 (qualitative)* | Moderate, CASP | |
| Atchison 2020 (survey)# | Moderate | |
| Briscese 2020 (survey)# | Moderate | |
| Clements 2020 (survey)# | Low | |
| Kwok 2020 (survey)# | Low‐moderate | |
| Lohiniva 2020 (qualitative)# | Moderate, CASP | |
| Lunn 2020 (RCT)# | Moderate, CASP | |
| Meier 2020 (survey)# | Low‐moderate | |
| Roy 2020 (survey)# | Low | |
| Zhong 2020 (survey)# | Low | |
| General | Bekele 2020(SR)# | Moderate, AMSTAR |
| Berg 2021(scoping review, rapid)# | Low, AMSTAR | |
| ECDC 2020g (review of guidelines)# | Low, AMSTAR | |
| Gupta 2021(SR)# | Low, AMSTAR | |
| JHCHS 2019 (guideline)* | Moderate, AGREE II | |
| Li 2020(SR)# | Moderate, AMSTAR | |
| Majid 2020(scoping review) #^ | Low, AMSTAR | |
| Noone 2021(scoping review, rapid)# | High, AMSTAR | |
| PHAC 2022(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| Sarria‐Guzman 2021(SR)# | Low, AMSTAR | |
| WHO 2017 (guideline)* | High, AGREE II | |
| WHO 2020(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| WHO 2020a(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| WHO 2021a(GL)# | Low, AGREE II | |
| Lim 2020 (survey)# | Moderate |
# COVID‐19‐specific, #^ included research not COVID‐19‐specific but review conducted explicitly in the context of the current pandemic outbreak, *non‐COVID‐19‐specific study
Bold text indicates new studies added in this update.
AMSTAR ratings categorised as follows (scored out of 11): 1‐4 low, 5‐7 moderate, 8+ high‐quality
AGREE II ratings categorised as follows (mean scores across 6 domains): < 40% low, 40 to < 70% moderate, 70%+ high‐quality
&AGREE II overall rating calculated based on mean of 3 domains (1, 3, 6) rather than all 6 domains of the tool
% AMSTAR rating from McMaster Health Forum (via Health Systems Evidence https://www.healthsystemsevidence.org)