Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) Rating and Classification Scale

Our World in Data is an online data-sharing initiative launched in 2011 by a research team at the University of Oxford, covering a wide range of topics including health, food supply, income growth and distribution, education, and environmental changes. Under the health theme, the "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)" section features the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) database, a global longitudinal project collating pandemic-related data established by researchers such as Hale.The OxCGRT database aggregates policy measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic from approximately 180 countries and regions worldwide, sourced from official government websites and news media reports. These measures are categorized into 23 indicators to form publicly accessible information, specifically encompassing containment and closure policies (e.g., school closures and movement restrictions), economic policies, and health system policies (e.g., testing protocols and vaccination strategies). For each country or region, the database records the content, start date, end date, scope of implementation, and enforcement level of each type of policy measure. Each policy measure is then scored based on its implementation scope and enforcement level, resulting in a daily policy stringency score (ranging from 0 to 100) for each indicator, reflecting the intensity of government-implemented COVID-19 prevention and control measures.The research team systematically collects policy requirements and durations for each country and each measure. First, policies are classified into several ordered categories based on their presence or absence and specific content, with each category assigned a value (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3, ...). Second, since some public health and social measures in a country or region may only apply to specific areas or populations, a dichotomous variable for policy scope is incorporated alongside policy content. The calculation formulas and scoring guidelines for each indicator are publicly available on GitHub.