Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed clear deficiencies in global public health policies and healthcare systems when confronted with the emergence of a novel and deadly infectious disease.
Objectives: With 4 years elapsed since the onset of the pandemic, ample data now exist to analyse the associations between the implementation of diverse public health policies, sociodemographic factors and COVID-19 mortality rates.
Methods: This study utilised the dataset compiled by 'Our World in Data' spanning the period of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022. Stochastic frontier analysis was employed to assess the influencing factors and their relationship with mortality rates resulting from COVID-19 infections across 156 countries or regions.
Results: This study yielded several key findings: (1) There remains a 33% margin for improvement in the global mortality rate concerning the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) During the initial stage of the pandemic, when an effective vaccine was not yet available, implementing public health control policies could reduce both the infection and mortality rates; (3) Areas characterised by higher population densities, a greater proportion of individuals aged 65 and over, and elevated prevalence rates of diabetes demonstrated higher mortality rates; and (4) Increasing vaccination coverage emerged as an effective strategy for reducing mortality rates.
Conclusions: As our understanding of the COVID-19 virus improves, global economies and social interactions have gradually returned to normality. It is anticipated that the findings of this study can serve as a valuable reference in combating potential future pandemics caused by unknown viruses.
Keywords: COVID-19; inefficiency; infection; mortality; stochastic Frontier analysis.
Main findings: The initial social distancing and lockdown measures, and use of masks as a preventive measure against the spread of COVID-19 disease, among many public health policies, have proven effective.Added knowledge: This study uncovered several factors influencing COVID-19 mortality, including the infection rate, population density, proportion of elderly individuals, intensity of public health control measures, presence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and the cumulative fully vaccinated rate.Global health impact for policy and action: The results of this study are anticipated to serve as valuable references and effective guides for policymakers and public health authorities worldwide, especially in the event of future unknown deadly epidemics or public health crises.