PONE-D-23-23810Recommended distances for physical distancing during COVID-19 pandemics reveal cultural connections between countriesPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Orgogozo,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. In particular, I would like you to clarify if the original data are available, and in case where or why not, and if there was there an association between recommended distance during COVID and mean traditional social distance face to face with strangers. Moreover, please consider expanding the cited literature review. While mostly common knowledge, please specify that social distancing and lockdowns are effective in reducing COVID-19 cases (Alfano, V., Ercolano, S. 2020. The Efficacy of Lockdown Against COVID-19: A Cross-Country Panel Analysis. Appl Health Econ Health Policy 18: 509–517) and the role played by social capital in affecting COVID-19 spread (that is likely to affect mean social distance). The subject is discussed in Alfano, V. (2022). Does social capital enforce social distancing? The role of bridging and bonding social capital in the evolution of the pandemic. Econ Polit 39: 839–859.

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Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: No

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Great article!

Are the original data available?

Was there an association between recommended distance during COVID and mean traditional social distance vis a vis strangers in the countries where these data were available?

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Mary V Seeman MD

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Recommended distances for physical distancing during COVID-19 pandemics reveal cultural connections between countries

PONE-D-23-23810R1

Dear Dr. Orgogozo,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Vincenzo Alfano

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

Not required since I answered "all comments have been addressed" above.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Mary V Seeman

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