US State Social Distancing Intervention Dates (valid to 4/25/20)

This dataset contains dates for the implementations of the following interventions in 50 US states plus Shelby County TN in response to COVID-19. Each intervention date has an associated comment containing sources for that date and a rationale when the decision was not strictly objective. Interventions are valid to 4/25/20 after which some states began to reverse some interventions.

schools_universities

Primary/secondary school closing; partial closing is OK; State university closing if it precedes primary/secondary

travel_restrictions

Out of state travel quarantine restrictions OR state-level guidance to avoid traveling out of state

public_events

Banning of ALL public events of more than 100 participants

sport

Banning/canceling of sporting events. Banning of public events of 1000 or more also qualifies.

lockdown

Definitions vary, but include: banning of non-essential gatherings/business operations, ordering stay at home except for exercise and essential tasks; stay at home/safer at home orders

Lockdown encompasses all other intervensions by definition, so if a state skips multiple interventions and goes to lockdown, the lockdown date is used for those interventions as well.

social_distancing_encouraged

State advice on distancing including: work from home, reduce public transport, avoid non-essential contact; any guidance for maintaining a physical distance from others will also qualify. Mere words "social distancing" do not count unless they are elaborated with what that means in practice. Messaging must be to public and not selected group (e.g. state employees).

self_isolating_if_ill

Strong recommendations/laws about self-isolating if showing COVID like symptoms; Statewide testing implies this, so whichever comes first. Messaging must be to public and not selected group (e.g. state employees).