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Codebook for the Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker

Codebook version 2.2
22 May 2020

This document is the authoritative codebook for the Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker (GitHub repo, university website). The dataset contains 17 indicators and a miscellaneous notes field organised into four groups:

Updates to this codebook are recorded in the changelog below.

Most indicators are recorded on an ordinal scale that represents the level of strictness of the policy. Four of the indicators (E3, E4, H4 and H5) are recorded as a US dollar value of fiscal spending.

Eight of the indicators (C1-C7 and H1) also have a flag for whether they are targeted to a specific geographical region (flag=0) or whether they are a "general" policy that is applied across the whole country (flag=1). One indicator (E1) has a flag to describe whether income support is for just formal sector workers (flag=0) or whether it includes informal workers as well (flag=1).

Containment and closure policies

ID Name Description Measurement Coding
C1 C1_School closing Record closings of schools and universities Ordinal scale 0 - no measures
1 - recommend closing
2 - require closing (only some levels or categories, eg just high school, or just public schools)
3 - require closing all levels
Blank - no data
C1_Flag Binary flag for geographic scope 0 - targeted
1- general
Blank - no data
C2 C2_Workplace closing Record closings of workplaces Ordinal scale 0 - no measures
1 - recommend closing (or recommend work from home)
2 - require closing (or work from home) for some sectors or categories of workers
3 - require closing (or work from home) for all-but-essential workplaces (eg grocery stores, doctors)
Blank - no data
C2_Flag Binary flag for geographic scope 0 - targeted
1- general
Blank - no data
C3 C3_Cancel public events Record cancelling public events Ordinal scale 0 - no measures
1 - recommend cancelling
2 - require cancelling
Blank - no data
C3_Flag Binary flag for geographic scope 0 - targeted
1- general
Blank - no data
C4 C4_Restrictions on gatherings Record limits on private gatherings Ordinal scale 0 - no restrictions
1 - restrictions on very large gatherings (the limit is above 1000 people)
2 - restrictions on gatherings between 101-1000 people
3 - restrictions on gatherings between 11-100 people
4 - restrictions on gatherings of 10 people or less
Blank - no data
C4_Flag Binary flag for geographic scope 0 - targeted
1- general
Blank - no data
C5 C5_Close public transport Record closing of public transport Ordinal scale 0 - no measures
1 - recommend closing (or significantly reduce volume/route/means of transport available)
2 - require closing (or prohibit most citizens from using it)
Blank - no data
C5_Flag Binary flag for geographic scope 0 - targeted
1- general
Blank - no data
C6 C6_Stay at home requirements Record orders to "shelter-in-place" and otherwise confine to the home Ordinal scale 0 - no measures
1 - recommend not leaving house
2 - require not leaving house with exceptions for daily exercise, grocery shopping, and 'essential' trips
3 - require not leaving house with minimal exceptions (eg allowed to leave once a week, or only one person can leave at a time, etc)
Blank - no data
C6_Flag Binary flag for geographic scope 0 - targeted
1- general
Blank - no data
C7 C7_Restrictions on internal movement Record restrictions on internal movement between cities/regions Ordinal scale 0 - no measures
1 - recommend not to travel between regions/cities
2 - internal movement restrictions in place
Blank - no data
C7_Flag Binary flag for geographic scope 0 - targeted
1- general
Blank - no data
C8 C8_International travel controls Record restrictions on international travel

Note: this records policy for foreign travellers, not citizens		 Ordinal scale 0 - no restrictions
1 - screening arrivals
2 - quarantine arrivals from some or all regions
3 - ban arrivals from some regions
4 - ban on all regions or total border closure
Blank - no data

Economic policies

ID Name Description Measurement Coding
E1 E1_Income support
(for households)		 Record if the government is providing direct cash payments to people who lose their jobs or cannot work.

Note: only includes payments to firms if explicitly linked to payroll/salaries		 Ordinal scale 0 - no income support
1 - government is replacing less than 50% of lost salary (or if a flat sum, it is less than 50% median salary)
2 - government is replacing 50% or more of lost salary (or if a flat sum, it is greater than 50% median salary)
Blank - no data
E1_Flag Binary flag for sectoral scope 0 - formal sector workers only
1 - transfers to informal sector workers too
Blank - no data
E2 E2_Debt/contract relief
(for households)		 Record if the government is freezing financial obligations for households (eg stopping loan repayments, preventing services like water from stopping, or banning evictions) Ordinal scale 0 - no debt/contract relief
1 - narrow relief, specific to one kind of contract
2 - broad debt/contract relief
E3 E3_Fiscal measures Announced economic stimulus spending

Note: only record amount additional to previously announced spending		 USD Record monetary value in USD of fiscal stimuli, includes any spending or tax cuts NOT included in E4, H4 or H5
0 - no new spending that day
Blank - no data
E4 E4_International support Announced offers of Covid-19 related aid spending to other countries

Note: only record amount additional to previously announced spending		 USD Record monetary value in USD
0 - no new spending that day
Blank - no data

Health system policies

ID Name Description Measurement Coding
H1 H1_Public information campaigns Record presence of public info campaigns Ordinal scale 0 - no Covid-19 public information campaign
1 - public officials urging caution about Covid-19
2- coordinated public information campaign (eg across traditional and social media)
Blank - no data
H1_Flag Binary flag for geographic scope 0 - targeted
1- general
Blank - no data
H2 H2_Testing policy Record government policy on who has access to testing

Note: this records policies about testing for current infection (PCR tests) not testing for immunity (antibody test)		 Ordinal scale 0 - no testing policy
1 - only those who both (a) have symptoms AND (b) meet specific criteria (eg key workers, admitted to hospital, came into contact with a known case, returned from overseas)
2 - testing of anyone showing Covid-19 symptoms
3 - open public testing (eg "drive through" testing available to asymptomatic people)
Blank - no data
H3 H3_Contact tracing Record government policy on contact tracing after a positive diagnosis

Note: we are looking for policies that would identify all people potentially exposed to Covid-19; voluntary bluetooth apps are unlikely to achieve this		 Ordinal scale 0 - no contact tracing
1 - limited contact tracing; not done for all cases
2 - comprehensive contact tracing; done for all identified cases
H4 H4_Emergency investment in healthcare Announced short term spending on healthcare system, eg hospitals, masks, etc

Note: only record amount additional to previously announced spending		 USD Record monetary value in USD
0 - no new spending that day
Blank - no data
H5 H5_Investment in vaccines Announced public spending on Covid-19 vaccine development

Note: only record amount additional to previously announced spending		 USD Record monetary value in USD
0 - no new spending that day
Blank - no data

Miscellaneous policies

ID Name Description Measurement Coding
M1 M1_Wildcard Record policy announcements that do not fit anywhere else Free text notes field Note unusual or interesting interventions that are worth flagging

Codebook changelog

  • 22 May 2020: v2.2 changed description of E1=2 from "replacing more than 50% of lost salary" to "replacing 50% or more of lost salary"
  • 11 May 2020: moved v2 codebook to GitHub