  This paper introduces a dynamic panel SIR (DP-SIR) model to investigate the
impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on the COVID-19 transmission
dynamics with panel data from 9 countries across the globe. By constructing
scenarios with different combinations of NPIs, our empirical findings suggest
that countries may avoid the lockdown policy with imposing school closure, mask
wearing and centralized quarantine to reach similar outcomes on controlling the
COVID-19 infection. Our results also suggest that, as of April 4th, 2020,
certain countries such as the U.S. and Singapore may require additional
measures of NPIs in order to control disease transmissions more effectively,
while other countries may cautiously consider to gradually lift some NPIs to
mitigate the costs to the overall economy.
