Systematic review of empirical studies comparing the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19
In December 2019, a pneumonia-like disease caused an outbreak in the city of Wuhan,
China1. This disease, later named COVID-19, spread globally and was declared a pandemic
in March 2020 by the World Health Organisation. By April 2021 it has already affected
around 145 million people and resulted in more than three million deaths globally2.
Until effective treatments are available and vaccines are extensively accessible and
administered, governments rely on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to control
the epidemic.