Government management capacities and the containment of COVID-19: A repeated cross-sectional study across Chinese cities

Objectives: Better understanding of the dynamics of the COVID-19
(2019-novel coronavirus disease) pandemic to curb its spread is now a
global imperative. While travel restrictions and control measures have
been shown to limit the spread of the disease spread, the effectiveness of
the enforcement of those measures should depend on the strength of the
government. Whether, and how, the government plays a role in fighting the
disease, however, has not been investigated. Here, we show that government
management capacities are critical for the containment of the disease.
Setting: We conduct a statistical analysis based on cross-city comparisons
within China. China has undergone almost the entire cycle of the
anti-coronavirus campaign, which allows us to trace the full dynamics of
the outbreak, with homogeneity in standards for statistics recording.
Participants: Not available. Primary and secondary outcome measures:
Outcome measures include city-specific COVID-19 case incidence and
recoveries in China. Results: The containment of COVID-19 depends on the
effectiveness of the enforcement of control measures, which in turn
depends on the local government’s management capacities. Specifically,
government efficiency, capacity for law enforcement, and the transparency
of laws and policies significantly reduce COVID-19 prevalence and increase
the likelihood of recoveries. The organization size of the government,
which is not closely related to its capacity for management, has a limited
role. Trial registration: Not available.