First three months of COVID-19 in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – comparative assessment of disease control measures

Abstract

The uncertainty surrounding the emerging coronavirus threat prompted countries to adopt various disease control measures (DCMs). This study compares the DCMs and the epicurves in Croatia, Slovenia, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia in the first three months of COVID-19 epidemic. The open-source data of COVID-19 confirmed case and the DCMs were analyzed. For comparison between countries, seven benchmark DCMs were used: closure of educational institutions, complete lockdown, borders closure, public transport ban, restriction of movement within the country, easing of the lockdown measure, and the borders re-opening. The time passed from the first detected and confirmed COVID-19 case and each DCM was recorded as well as the time between the epidemic declaration and each DCM. The results describe comparatively the time flow of the DCMs across the countries and relative to the number of confirmed cases.