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Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance

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A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Coronaviruses (CoV) and COVID-19 Pandemic".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2022) | Viewed by 58075

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Chao Wang

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Guest Editor

Guanghua Law School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Interests: international and comparative law; global governance; interdisciplinary research of law; human rights and global health

Prof. Dr. Chunyan Ding

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

School of Law, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Interests: medical law; comparative health law; artificial intelligence in healthcare and medical negligence litigation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus on the law, policy and governance of global health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed fundamental weaknesses in the public health order from both national and international aspects.

From the institutional level, for instance, the operations of the World Health Organization (WHO) need to be reappraised in terms of its mandate, structure and governance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though its International Health Regulations (IHR) provides a reporting mechanism to determine a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the lack of effective enforcement and limited access to information have urged implementation of the IHR per se. Other international organizations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the larger UN system, shall also be reviewed for the future reform of global health governance.

In the meantime, from geopolitical or rule-making perspectives, some countries attempted to reshape existing international health orders in the time of COVID-19. The Health Silk Road initiated by China, for example, is alleged to provide a foreign medical aid system in regional and global health governance. Furthermore, competition over vaccine R&D attracts attention on vaccine nationalism and multiple vaccine supply and distribution challenges, which further bring about issues such as equal access to medical treatment and the vaccine, emerging use of a patented medicine/vaccine, etc. In addition, digital applications are widely used for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, while new technologies such as e-health solutions, digital contact-tracing applications and artificial intelligence in medicine arouse issues concerning privacy protection, data security, public health information transparency and sharing, etc.

Therefore, in this Special Issue of Healthcare, we welcome commentaries, short reports, reviews and original research articles that provide new insights into the above-related issues. The studies may be quantitative, qualitative or mixed-method, and interdisciplinary approaches are welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Chao Wang
Prof. Dr. Chunyan Ding
Guest Editors

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Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

global health
good governance
health in foreign policy
World Health Organization
global health justice
international health law
international health development

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Published Papers (14 papers)

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24 pages, 352 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Regulation of Digital Healthcare in India: Ethical and Legal Challenges

by Dipika Jain

Healthcare 2023, 11(6), 911; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060911 - 21 Mar 2023

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 9160

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital healthcare has gained an influx of interest and global investment. The WHO has published guidelines and recommendations for countries to successfully implement telemedicine on a large, nationwide scale. This is not only helpful for patients who wish to protect themselves from COVID-19 and related illnesses that they may be vulnerable to, but it also has great potential to increase access to healthcare. In India, a country without universal healthcare grappling with a high level of distrust in the public health system, there are several implementation challenges for digital healthcare across the country. The current laws in India that regulate technology do not explicitly address telehealth, nor are there adequate data protection laws in place that could manage the significant amount of data that would be generated by digital healthcare if applied on a large scale. Further, there are concerns at the level of patient privacy, which could be compromised through digital healthcare. In addition to the legal concerns surrounding privacy, there is no framework in place to ensure informed consent in a digital healthcare context. In this paper, I analyze the legal, structural, and ethical concerns around digital health and provide an understanding of the problems these shortcomings pose, as well as policy recommendations for overcoming these problems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

19 pages, 564 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Privacy Protection in Using Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare: Chinese Regulation in Comparative Perspective

by Chao Wang, Jieyu Zhang, Nicholas Lassi and Xiaohan Zhang

Healthcare 2022, 10(10), 1878; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10101878 - 27 Sep 2022

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 7472

Abstract

Advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are now widely employed in China’s medical and healthcare fields. Enormous amounts of personal data are collected from various sources and inserted into AI algorithms for medical purposes, producing challenges to patient’s privacy. This is a comparative study of Chinese, United States, and European Union operational rules for healthcare data that is collected and then used in AI functions, particularly focusing on legal differences and deficiencies. The conceptual boundaries of privacy and personal information, the influence of technological development on the informed consent model, and conflicts between freedom and security in rules of cross-border data flow were found to be key issues requiring consideration when regulating healthcare data used for AI purposes. Furthermore, the results indicate that the appropriate balance between privacy protections and technological development, between individual and group interests, and between corporate profits and the public interest should be identified and observed. In terms of specific rule-making, it was found that China should establish special regulations protecting healthcare information, provide clear definitions and classification schemas for different types of healthcare information, and enact stricter accountability mechanisms. Examining and contrasting operational rules for AI in health care promotes informed privacy governance and improved privacy legislation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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13 pages, 1199 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Non-Pharmacological Measures Implemented in the Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania

by Nenssy Georgiana Horga, Daniela Cirnatu, Nilima Rajpal Kundnani, Elena Ciurariu, Simona Parvu, Andrei Lucas Ignea, Claudia Borza, Abhinav Sharma and Stelian Morariu

Healthcare 2022, 10(9), 1756; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10091756 - 13 Sep 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1838

Abstract

The management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania has included the involvement of not only the medical system, but also that of the administrative and social services. All these organizations are working together to lower the impact on the health of the general population, to increase the health system’s response capabilities and even to diminish the negative effects upon the economy due to the epidemic’s length. Therefore, non-pharmacological measures (NPMs) imposed through restrictive measures (administrative, economic and individual) have influenced the evolution of morbidity and mortality. Even from the first months of the pandemic’s progression, researchers have shown the impact of the NPMs’ existence, as there were many studies on all NPMs in conjunction, as well as those targeting specific measures such as school closures. Our study started by establishing a temporal relationship between the non-pharmacological measures found in most countries (wearing a mask, washing hands and physical distancing, limiting economic activities, closing schools, limiting internal and international movement, banning public and private events in closed spaces) and the evolution of the pandemic in Romania. The degree of novelty brought by this study consists of extending the analysis to the pre-existing state of the health system and to the measures meant to increase the resilience of the population, as well as to the measures aimed at reducing the type of risk, and factors that can equally influence the evolution of the number of cases. The results of the statistical analysis show the important effects of certain NPMs (mask mandates, online schooling, decisions regarding imposing or lifting local restrictions) as well as the reduced impact of other measures (hand disinfection, social distancing or the restriction of public and private events). Hence, it can be concluded that during such pandemics, implementing quick, simple measures can prevent the spread of the disease and help fight the contagion in a better manner. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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14 pages, 1976 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Decoding China’s COVID-19 Health Code Apps: The Legal Challenges

by Xiaohan Zhang

Healthcare 2022, 10(8), 1479; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10081479 - 5 Aug 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3153

Abstract

Heath code apps, along with robust testing, isolation, and the care of cases, are a vital strategy for containing the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. They have remained stable and consistent, allowing China to extensively restore its social and economic development. However, the ethical and legal boundaries of deploying health code apps for disease surveillance and control purposes are unclear, and a rapidly evolving debate has emerged around the promises and risks of their fast promotion. The article outlines the legal challenges by applying the core values of the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), the fundamental law for personal information protection in China, into the context of the nationwide use of health code apps. It elaborates on the balance between the demands for upholding individuals’ rights to the security of their personal information and those for public access to such information to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. It identifies the current gaps in addressing personal information harms during the use of the apps, particularly with regard to user consent, transparency, necessity, storage duration, and security safeguards. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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9 pages, 284 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Association between the Human Development Index and Confirmed COVID-19 Cases by Country

by Min-Hee Heo, Young Dae Kwon, Jooyoung Cheon, Kyoung-Beom Kim and Jin-Won Noh

Healthcare 2022, 10(8), 1417; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10081417 - 29 Jul 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2706

Abstract

It is important to understand the ultimate control of COVID-19 in all countries around the world in relation to the characteristics of developed countries, LDCs, and the variety of transmission characteristics of COVID-19. Therefore, this study aimed to identify factors associated with confirmed cases of COVID-19 with a focus on the Human Development Index (HDI). The units of analysis used for the current study were countries, and dataset were aggregated from multiple sources. This study used COVID-19 data from Our World in Data, the Global Health Security Index, and the WORLD BANK. A total of 171 countries were included in the analysis. A multi-variable linear regression with a hierarchical framework was employed to investigate whether the HDI is associated with confirmed COVID-19 cases after controlling for the demographic and healthcare system characteristics of the study countries. For Model 2, which controlled for demographic and healthcare system characteristics, HDI (β = 0.46, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 2.64–10.87) and the number of physicians per 1000 people (β = 0.34, p < 0.01, 95% CI = 0.21–0.75) had significant associations with the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. Countries with a high HDI level are able to conduct higher per capita testing, resulting in higher numbers of confirmed cases than in countries with lower HDI levels. This study has shown evidence that could be used by governments and international organizations to identify national characteristics and provide the international cooperation necessary to develop effective prevention and intervention methods to deal with the global pandemic. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

12 pages, 572 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Physician Engagement before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand

by Nantana Suppapitnarm and Montri Saengpattrachai

Healthcare 2022, 10(8), 1394; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10081394 - 26 Jul 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2083

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected not only the quality of care and patient safety but also physician engagement. The aim of this study was to investigate physician engagement before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the areas to improve regarding physician engagement. An online survey was conducted from April 2019 to September 2020 among the physicians of 44 hospitals under the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Public Company Limited (BDMS) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results were analyzed using an independent T-test and one-way ANOVA to compare the continuous variables across groups. Multiple linear regression was used to identify and adjust the variables to determine the areas for improvement. Among the 10,746 respondents, physician engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly higher than in the pre-COVID-19 period (4.12 vs. 4.06, p-value < 0.001). The top three recommendations to promote physician engagement during the COVID-19 situation comprised (1) marketing (70%), (2) intra-and inter-organizational communication (69%), and (3) the competency of clinical staff (67%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the positive outcomes toward physician engagement focused on infra-organizational development. These results can be considered in a strategy to optimize physician engagement, which affects the quality of care and patient safety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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17 pages, 260 KiB

Open AccessArticle

United by Contagion: How Can China Improve Its Capabilities of Port Infectious Disease Prevention and Control?

by Danzi Liao, Tianyue Lyu and Jia Li

Healthcare 2022, 10(8), 1359; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10081359 - 22 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2241

Abstract

The rapid development of the social economy and science and technology has led to more frequent transnational movements of people, goods and vehicles. At the same time, various cross-border risks have significantly increased. The rapid global spread and continuous mutation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) have again exposed the international community’s extreme vulnerability to major transnational public health emergencies. China started a “war against the epidemic” with tight quarantine regulations and border restrictions on people, vehicles and international goods. However, it also revealed the weaknesses in and incapacity for disease prevention and control at ports in terms of obstructed performance of the whole chain of public agencies, incompatible laws and regulations, lack of key technologies, and difficulties in international cooperation. Combined with persuasive data, this paper systematically illustrates how transnational infectious diseases lead humans to be “united by contagion”. On this basis, this paper makes a targeted analysis of the deficiencies of port epidemic prevention and control in China’s fight against COVID-19 and suggests corresponding countermeasures and reflections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

10 pages, 447 KiB

Open AccessArticle

China’s Vaccine Diplomacy and Its Implications for Global Health Governance

by Liangtao Liu, Yongli Huang and Jiyong Jin

Healthcare 2022, 10(7), 1276; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10071276 - 10 Jul 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3890

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on global economy and human communities. Promoting the accessibility and affordability of vaccine via diplomacy is the key to mitigating the pandemic crisis. China has been accused of seeking geopolitical objectives by launching vaccine diplomacy. The definition of vaccine diplomacy is neutral by nature. China’s vaccine diplomacy is based on its holistic approach to national security and the importance China attaches to the “Belt and Road” Initiative. With a whole-of-government approach on both the bilateral and multilateral levels and marketization of vaccines, China’s vaccine diplomacy has immense implications for global health governance, in that it helps to narrow the global immunization vaccination gap and to promote human-right-based approach to global health governance. However, the sustainability of China’s vaccine diplomacy is questionable because of the Sino-American geopolitical competition and doubts over the efficacy of China’s vaccines. The escalation of power rivalry between China and the U.S. and the concerns over the efficacy of China’s vaccines forebode the gloomy future of China’s vaccine diplomacy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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19 pages, 2104 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cluster Analysis of US COVID-19 Infected States for Vaccine Distribution

by Dong-Her Shih, Pai-Ling Shih, Ting-Wei Wu, Cheng-Jung Li and Ming-Hung Shih

Healthcare 2022, 10(7), 1235; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10071235 - 2 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2371

Abstract

Since December 2019, COVID-19 has been raging worldwide. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection, many countries have proposed epidemic prevention policies and quickly administered vaccines, However, under facing a shortage of vaccines, the United States did not put forward effective epidemic prevention policies in time to prevent the infection from expanding, resulting in the epidemic in the United States becoming more and more serious. Through “The COVID Tracking Project”, this study collects medical indicators for each state in the United States from 2020 to 2021, and through feature selection, each state is clustered according to the epidemic’s severity. Furthermore, through the confusion matrix of the classifier to verify the accuracy of the cluster analysis, the study results show that the Cascade K-means cluster analysis has the highest accuracy. This study also labeled the three clusters of the cluster analysis results as high, medium, and low infection levels. Policymakers could more objectively decide which states should prioritize vaccine allocation in a vaccine shortage to prevent the epidemic from continuing to expand. It is hoped that if there is a similar epidemic in the future, relevant policymakers can use the analysis procedure of this study to determine the allocation of relevant medical resources for epidemic prevention according to the severity of infection in each state to prevent the spread of infection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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16 pages, 893 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Employment Management Policies for College Graduates under COVID-19 in China: Diffusion Characteristics and Core Issues

by Min Wu, Xinxin Hao and Yihao Tian

Healthcare 2022, 10(5), 955; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050955 - 22 May 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3643

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic has been having a great impact on the job market, so that graduates from all over the world are facing a more complex employment environment. Unemployment of the educated labor force often results in a waste of human capital and leads to serious economic and social problems. In the face of the impact of COVID-19, the Chinese government quickly introduced a series of employment policies for college graduates to relieve their employment pressure and create opportunities of career development. How did these employment policies for college graduates spread rapidly under the unconventional state of the COVID-19 epidemic? What are the diffusion characteristics? What are the core issues and measures? What are the differences between governments at all levels? These problems with rich connotation and research value needed to be further clarified. Based on the 72 employment support policies collected from the Chinese government network, this paper conducted a text analysis of the policies and found that in the process dimension, the employment policies of college graduates accumulated and exploded from bottom to top in the short term, and the policies diffusion followed the gradual model of “east–middle–west”. In the content dimension, there were five core issues: financial subsidies, innovation and entrepreneurship to drive employment, public institutions to absorb, optimizing public services, and lowering the support threshold. Meanwhile, there were obvious differences in the choice of policy tools, policy intensity, and implementation ideas in each region. The findings are of important significance for developed and developing countries to better respond to the impact of various emergency situations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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21 pages, 6713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Effective Strategy and Mathematical Model to Predict the Sustainable Evolution of the Impact of the Pandemic Lockdown

by Priyanka Harjule, Ramesh Chandra Poonia, Basant Agrawal, Abdul Khader Jilani Saudagar, Abdullah Altameem, Mohammed Alkhathami, Muhammad Badruddin Khan, Mozaherul Hoque Abul Hasanat and Khalid Mahmood Malik

Healthcare 2022, 10(5), 759; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050759 - 19 Apr 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2160

Abstract

There have been considerable losses in terms of human and economic resources due to the current coronavirus pandemic. This work, which contributes to the prevention and control of COVID-19, proposes a novel modified epidemiological model that predicts the epidemic’s evolution over time in India. A mathematical model was proposed to analyze the spread of COVID-19 in India during the lockdowns implemented by the government of India during the first and second waves. What makes this study unique, however, is that it develops a conceptual model with time-dependent characteristics, which is peculiar to India’s diverse and homogeneous societies. The results demonstrate that governmental control policies and suitable public perception of risk in terms of social distancing and public health safety measures are required to control the spread of COVID-19 in India. The results also show that India’s two strict consecutive lockdowns (21 days and 19 days, respectively) successfully helped delay the spread of the disease, buying time to pump up healthcare capacities and management skills during the first wave of COVID-19 in India. In addition, the second wave’s severe lockdown put a lot of pressure on the sustainability of many Indian cities. Therefore, the data show that timely implementation of government control laws combined with a high risk perception among the Indian population will help to ensure sustainability. The proposed model is an effective strategy for constructing healthy cities and sustainable societies in India, which will help prevent such a crisis in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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11 pages, 1832 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Network Dynamics Model for the Transmission of COVID-19 in Diamond Princess and a Response to Reopen Large-Scale Public Facilities

by Yuchen Zhu, Ying Wang, Chunyu Li, Lili Liu, Chang Qi, Yan Jia, Kaili She, Tingxuan Liu, Huaiping Zhu and Xiujun Li

Healthcare 2022, 10(1), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10010139 - 12 Jan 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1828

Abstract

Background: The current epidemic of COVID-19 has become the new normal. However, the novel coronavirus is constantly mutating. In public transportation or large entertainment venues, it can spread more quickly once an infected person is introduced. This study aims to discuss whether large public facilities can be opened and operated under the current epidemic situation. Methods: The dual Barabási–Albert (DBA) model was used to build a contact network. A dynamics compartmental modeling framework was used to simulate the COVID-19 epidemic with different interventions on the Diamond Princess. Results: The effect of isolation only was minor. Regardless of the transmission rate of the virus, joint interventions can prevent 96.95% (95% CI: 96.70–97.15%) of infections. Compared with evacuating only passengers, evacuating the crew and passengers can avoid about 11.90% (95% CI: 11.83–12.06%) of infections; Conclusions: It is feasible to restore public transportation services and reopen large-scale public facilities if monitoring and testing can be in place. Evacuating all people as soon as possible is the most effective way to contain the outbreak in large-scale public facilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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Review

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35 pages, 3606 KiB

Open AccessReview

Artificial Intelligence: A Next-Level Approach in Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

by V. Mahalakshmi, Awatef Balobaid, B. Kanisha, R. Sasirekha and M. Ramkumar Raja

Healthcare 2023, 11(6), 854; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060854 - 14 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 9337

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which caused coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) in late 2019 in China created a devastating economical loss and loss of human lives. To date, 11 variants have been identified with minimum to maximum severity of infection and surges in cases. Bacterial co-infection/secondary infection is identified during viral respiratory infection, which is a vital reason for morbidity and mortality. The occurrence of secondary infections is an additional burden to the healthcare system; therefore, the quick diagnosis of both COVID-19 and secondary infections will reduce work pressure on healthcare workers. Therefore, well-established support from Artificial Intelligence (AI) could reduce the stress in healthcare and even help in creating novel products to defend against the coronavirus. AI is one of the rapidly growing fields with numerous applications for the healthcare sector. The present review aims to access the recent literature on the role of AI and how its subfamily machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) are used to curb the pandemic’s effects. We discuss the role of AI in COVID-19 infections, the detection of secondary infections, technology-assisted protection from COVID-19, global laws and regulations on AI, and the impact of the pandemic on public life. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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18 pages, 1371 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Apple Mobility Trends Data in Human Mobility Patterns during Restrictions and Prediction of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

by Artur Strzelecki

Healthcare 2022, 10(12), 2425; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10122425 - 30 Nov 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3773

Abstract

The objective of this systematic review with PRISMA guidelines is to discover how population movement information has epidemiological implications for the spread of COVID-19. In November 2022, the Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched for relevant reports for the review. The inclusion criteria are: (1) the study uses data from Apple Mobility Trends Reports, (2) the context of the study is about COVID-19 mobility patterns, and (3) the report is published in a peer-reviewed venue in the form of an article or conference paper in English. The review included 35 studies in the period of 2020–2022. The main strategy used for data extraction in this review is a matrix proposal to present each study from a perspective of research objective and outcome, study context, country, time span, and conducted research method. We conclude by pointing out that these data are not often used in studies and it is better to study a single country instead of doing multiple-country research. We propose topic classifications for the context of the studies as transmission rate, transport policy, air quality, re-increased activities, economic activities, and financial markets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health in the Time of COVID-19: Law, Policy and Governance)

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