In the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, women encountering lower vulnerability and mortality relative to men is the result of the increased consistency of women to coronavirus policies. The increased adherence of women to coronavirus policies may be one of the reasons for the lower vulnerability and mortality that they experienced, compared to men, in the early phase of the epidemic, suggest the findings of a new study. "Policy makers who promote new normality made of reduced mobility, face masks and other behavioural changes," says Vincenzo Galasso, one of the authors of a new study on gender differences in the reaction to COVID-19, "should, therefore, design a gender-differentiated communication if they want to increase the compliance of men." The study was published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

Two of the authors of the research are scholars of Bocconi University, Vincenzo Galasso and Paola Profeta, affiliated to Bocconi's COVID Crisis Lab.