Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 25, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancements in Multiplex Detection of Respiratory Viruses
Published on: November 10, 2023
The effect of human mobility and control measures on the COVID-19 epidemic in China
Moritz U G Kraemer1,2,3, Chia-Hung Yang4, Bernardo Gutierrez5,6
1Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. s.scarpino@northeastern.edu oliver.pybus@zoo.ox.ac.uk moritz.kraemer@zoo.ox.ac.uk.
Abstract:
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak expanded rapidly throughout China. Major behavioral, clinical, and state interventions were undertaken to mitigate the epidemic and prevent the persistence of the virus in human populations in China and worldwide. It remains unclear how these unprecedented interventions, including travel restrictions, affected COVID-19 spread in China. We used real-time mobility data from Wuhan and detailed case data including travel history to elucidate the role of case importation in transmission in cities across China and to ascertain the impact of control measures. Early on, the spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases in China was explained well by human mobility data. After the implementation of control measures, this correlation dropped and growth rates became negative in most locations, although shifts in the demographics of reported cases were still indicative of local chains of transmission outside of Wuhan. This study shows that the drastic control measures implemented in China substantially mitigated the spread of COVID-19.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Controls in Experiments
Steps in Outbreak Investigation
Causality in Epidemiology
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Gene Flow
Threats to Biodiversity

