Implications and Limitations of Social Distancing Strategies (SDS) to Mitigate the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

A 2007 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA study found that cities that deployed multiple interventions at an early phase of the pandemic had significantly lower death rates. Some early studies show different experience of peak coronavirus rates for 2 Chinese cities during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic. 4 The city, which implemented disease control measures early into the outbreak, had significantly lower numbers of hospitalizations from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on its peak day than the city, which put measures in place a month into the outbreak. 4 Studies from the pandemic influenza support the combined use of pharmaceutical and NPIs, emphasizing that, “combination strategies delayed spread, reduced overall number of cases, and delayed and reduced peak attack rate more than individual strategies.” The result might be early and complete initiation of strategies with no hesitations, and a flexible and educated community, able to handle the basic public health recommendations. 5 Corresponding author: