Figure 2

Temporal anatomy of COVID-19 social distancing effects. In panel (a), we show \(\Delta t\) and the percentage variation \(\Delta \gamma\) in the infection rate for the European countries considered in this study. In panel (b), we show the same for all the US states. In panels (c, d) we display the same results in the form of histograms, for Europe and the US separately, highlighting that \(\Delta t\) clusters around similar values. In panel (e), we illustrate the subdivision of the first wave epidemic curve in three temporal regions: A before social distancing as defined via mobility data occurs, B until an effect is observed in the epidemic curve as a change in \(\gamma\), and C covering the later times. \(\Delta t\) equals to the duration of the period B.