AI Article Synopsis

  • Governmental non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic decrease in population mobility, particularly affecting transit stations, with over a 50% decline observed.
  • Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) experienced a significant drop in operating income during the pandemic years (2020-2022), especially during the Alpha variant period, suggesting a strong link between its performance and population mobility.
  • In contrast, 7-Eleven stores showed no significant changes in operating income during the same period, with their income surpassing pre-pandemic levels post-May 2022, indicating they were less affected by NPIs.

Article Abstract

Governmental non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and concerns regarding COVID-19 infection greatly affected population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyzed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business operations of Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) and 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan. We collected data from COVID-19 Mobility Reports published by Google, the Our World in Data website, and the monthly financial reports of THSR and 7-Eleven stores. The findings revealed that the mean population mobility at transit stations decreased by over 50% during the pandemic. Changes in population mobility were significantly associated with the reproduction rate (7-day rolling average) and with the daily number of new confirmed cases per million people (7-day rolling average). The operating income of THSR was significantly associated with the decrease in population mobility at transit stations. The monthly and annual operating income of THSR in 2020, 2021, and 2022 (during the pandemic) were significantly lower than those in 2019 (before the pandemic). THSR's monthly operating income was lowest compared with the 2019 value during the Alpha variant period (89.89% lower). No significant correlation was noted between the operating income of 7-Eleven stores and population mobility. Moreover, no significant differences were discovered between the monthly and annual operating incomes of 7-Eleven stores in 2019 and those in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Implementation of the policy of coexistence with the virus by the Taiwanese government began in May 2022, and from May 2022 to October 2022, the monthly income of 7-Eleven stores was higher than that in 2019 whereas the monthly income of THSR began lower than and then slowly increased to the level in 2019. In conclusion, the operating performance of THSR was closely related to population mobility and government NPIs, whereas the operating performance of 7-Eleven stores was less strongly affected by NPIs. These stores increased their operating income by providing e-commerce and delivery services; they thus remained popular in the community.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10131549PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34111-0DOI Listing

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Article Synopsis
  • Governmental non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic decrease in population mobility, particularly affecting transit stations, with over a 50% decline observed.
  • Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) experienced a significant drop in operating income during the pandemic years (2020-2022), especially during the Alpha variant period, suggesting a strong link between its performance and population mobility.
  • In contrast, 7-Eleven stores showed no significant changes in operating income during the same period, with their income surpassing pre-pandemic levels post-May 2022, indicating they were less affected by NPIs.
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