Synthesis

• This study draws data from 32 high-income countries (international analysis) and 50 US States (US Analysis).
• COVID-19 mortality was measured as the number of deaths due to COVID-19 per million inhabitants, from January 2020 until January 2022.
• The study highlights that countries responded differently to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of timing and stringency of measures adopted. It further highlights that countries and states with more societal volunteering have been less impacted by COVID-19, even after accounting for differences in demographics, gross domestic product, healthcare investments and vaccination rates.