Table 5.
Public health and social measures policies on COVID-19 recommended by the WHO and issued by 10 countries.
| Country | China | South Korea | Japan | Singapore | Italy | UK | Germany | Sweden | U.S. | South Africa | WHO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of the first confirmed case reported by WHO | 12/1/2019 | 1/20 | 1/15 | 1/24 | 1/31 | 2/1 | 1/28 | 2/1 | 1/23 | 3/6 | – |
| Date of the first confirmed case reported by each country | – | 1/20 | 1/15 | 1/23 | 1/30 | 1/28 | 2/1 | 1/21 | 3/5 | – | |
| Date of highest infectious disease alert level (the second highest for the UK and Singapore) | 1/30: √ | 2/23: √ | 4/7: √ | 2/7:√ | 1/31: √ | 3/23: √ | 3/17: √ | X | 3/13: √ | 3/26: √ | – |
| The time between the date when the first case in each country was confirmed to the date when the highest-level infectious disease alert (days) | – | 35 | 102 | 15 | 0 | 54 | 50 | – | 51 | 21 | – |
| Confirmed number (as of 5/31) | 84,570 | 11,468 | 16,851 | 34,366 | 232,664 | 272,830 | 181,482 | 37,113 | 1716,078 | 30,967 | – |
| Confirmed cases per capita (per million) | 58.45 | 223.68 | 133.23 | 5874.19 | 3848.11 | 3747.31 | 2166.07 | 3674.82 | 5348.55 | 522.13 | – |
| The number of cited articles (2019.12.1–2020.5.31) | 22 | 8 | 14 | 15 | 21 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 13 |
| 1. Movement restriction | |||||||||||
| 1.1 Banning entry of all foreign nationals who had been to China's Hubei province in the past two weeks | – | 2/2: √ | 3/27: √ | 1/29:√ | – | – | – | – | 2/1: √ | – | – |
| 1.2 Banning entry of foreign nationals from other high-risk areas besides Hubei, China | – | 2/2–3/16: √ | 3/27: √ | 2/1;3/4; 3/16:√ | – | 3/26: √ | 3/16;3/17:√ | 3/19: √ | 3/13;5/28: √ | – | – |
| 1.3 Banning entry of all foreign nationals | 3/28: √ | – | – | 3/23:√ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1.4 Mandatory 14-day quarantine on all passengers arriving from Hubei, China | – | 2/2: √ | 3/9: √ | 1/28:√ | – | – | – | – | 2/2: √ | – | – |
| 1.5 Mandatory 14-day quarantine on all passengers arriving from all parts of the world | 3/3–3/23: √ | 4/1:√ | 3/9: √ | 3/20:√ | 3/18: √ | – | 4/8:√ | – | 5/27: √ | 3/26: √ | 5/18:√ |
| 1.6 Domestic travel restrictions between cities or provinces | 2019/12/23: √ | – | – | – | 3/1: √ | – | – | – | – | 3/26: √ | 5/18: √ |
| 2. Physical and social distancing measures | |||||||||||
| 2.1 Confirmed cases and close contacts | |||||||||||
| 2.1.1 Mandatory isolation of confirmed cases and their close contacts | 1/22: √ | 3/5: √ | 2/28: √ | 2/3: √ | 3/9: √ | – | 5/11: √ | – | – | 3/18: √ | 1/5: √ |
| 2.1.2 Tracking COVID-patients and their close contacts | 1/22: √ | 3/9: √ | 2/25:√ | 1/23: √ | 4/23: √ | 3/17: √ | 4/23: √ | – | 5/26: √ | – | 5/10: √ |
| 2.1.3 Develop mobile applications to track COVID-19 patients and close contacts | 2/11: √ | 3/9: √ | – | 4/23:√ | – | 5/5:√ | 4/7:√ | – | – | – | 5/13: √ |
| 2.1.4 Patients with different degrees of symptoms treated in different locations | 1/22: √ | 3/1: √ | 5/1:√ | 4/4: √ | – | – | – | – | – | 3/24: √ | 5/18: √ |
| 2.2 Suspected cases | |||||||||||
| 2.2.1 Self-isolation of those from high-risk areas | 1/25: √ | 3/9: √ | 3/9: √ | 1/2: √ | 2/21: √ | 3/3:√ | 3/9: √ | – | 5/6: √ | 2/10: √ | 2/16: √ |
| 2.2.2 Self-isolation for symptomatic people or for those living with symptomatic people | 1/22: √ | 2/28:√ | 1/23:√ | 2/21 √ | 3/13:√ | – | 5/29: √ | 3/6:√ | – | 4/17: √ | |
| 2.2.3 Temperature check in public spaces | 1/26: √ | 3/19: √ | – | 1/3:√ | 2/4: √ | – | X | – | – | 3/26: √ | 2/16: √ |
| 2.2.4 Virus testing | 1/27: √ | 2/2: √ | 3/15:√ | 3/4:√ | 4/15: √ | 2/7: √ | 4/17: √ | 3/29: √ | 3/4:√ | 3/15: √ | 3/20: √ |
| 2.3 The general public | |||||||||||
| 2.3.1 National stay at home orders | 2/11: √ | – | – | 4/7: √ | 3/9: √ | 3/26: √ | 3/20: √ | – | – | 3/26: √ | – |
| 2.3.2 School closure or delayed start of school semesters | 2019/12/26: √ | 3/17: √ | 3/2: √ | 4/7: √ | 2/23: √ | 3/18√ | 3/16: √ | – | 3/18:√ | 3/18: √ | 5/18: √ |
| 2.3.3 Working from home | 2/9:√ | 3/12: √ | 2/25: √ | 3/20:√ | 3/9: √ | 3/20: √ | 3/15 | 3/16: √ | 3/16:√ | – | 5/18: √ |
| 2.3.4 Non-essential shops and services closed | 1/24: √ | 3/16: √ | – | 3/26:√ | 2/23: √ | 3/21: √ | 3/23:√ | – | – | 3/18: √ | 5/18: √ |
| 2.3.5 Curfew | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3/20; 3/21:√ | – | – | 3/26: √ | – |
| 2.3.6 Cancellation of public events | 1/24: √ | 3/22:√ | 3/19: √ | 3/11: √ | 2/23: √ | 3/23:√ | 3/3: √ | 3/12: √ | 3/8: √ | 3/18: √ | 5/18: √ |
| 3. Personal measures | |||||||||||
| 3.1 Hand washing | 1/24: √ | 2/25:√ | 2/25:√ | 1/2:√ | 2/24: √ | 3/3:√ | 3/11:√ | 5/14: √ | 3/6:√ | 3/26: √ | 5/18: √ |
| 3.2 Ventilation | 1/24: √ | 3/9: √ | 3/1:√ | 3/13:√ | 5/14: √ | – | 5/26: √ | – | – | – | 1/29: √ |
| 3.3 Social distancing | 2019/12/24: √ | 2/29:√ | 2/25:√ | 3/13:√ | 4/27: √ | 3/3: √ | 3/14: √ | 3/12: √ | 4/3:√ | 3/26: √ | 5/18: √ |
| 3.4 Wear a face mask in public for healthy people | 2019/12/24: √ | 2/25: √ | 2/25:√ | 4/14:√ | 4/18: √ | – | 4/3: √ | 5/14:X | 4/3:√ | 3/26: √ | 2/27:X; 4/6:X |
| 4. Special protection measures for special populations and vulnerable groups | 1/25;1/28: √ | 3/8: √ | 3/28: √ | 3/10: √ | 3/25: √ | 4/10: √ | 3/25: √ | 4/1: √ | 4/7: √ | 3/28: √ | 5/18: √ |
| 5. Public health resources strategies | |||||||||||
| 5.1 Supply medical goods and materials | 1/26: √ | 5/3: √ | 3/28: √ | 2/1: √ | – | 4/10: √ | – | – | – | – | 2/12: √ |
| 5.2 Provide healthcare staff protective gears | 1/26:√ | 3/9: √ | 4/1: √ | 1/31: √ | 4/18: √ | 3/3: √ | 3/16:√ | 3/19: √ | 3/14: √ | 4/1: √ | 3/19: √ |
| 5.3 Increase hospital beds for treating COVID-19 patients | 1/24:√ | 3/9: √ | 4/7: √ | 3/24: √ | – | 3/17: √ | – | 4/6: √ | – | – | 5/21: √ |
| 5.4 Dispatch medical teams from other parts of the country to epidemic areas | 1/26:√ | 3/9: √ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2/16–24:√ |
| 5.5 Military support | 1/26:√ | 1/27: √ | – | 1/31:√ | 3/18: √ | 3/19: √ | – | 4/6: √ | 3/18: √ | 3/26: √ | – |
Note: For simplicity, the year 2020 is omitted for all the dates and the year of 2019 is retained.