Selected article for: "economic cost and public health"

Author: Samuel, Joseph; Sinha, Supurna
Title: Optimal Lockdowns in Pandemics
  • Cord-id: jz7f63ku
  • Document date: 2020_9_3
  • ID: jz7f63ku
    Snippet: During a pandemic, there are conflicting demands arising from public health and economic cost. Lockdowns are a common way of containing infections, but they adversely affect the economy. We study the question of how to minimise the economic damage of a lockdown while still containing infections. Our analysis is based on the SIR model, which we analyse using a clock set by the virus. This use of the"virus time"permits a clean mathematical formulation of our problem. We optimise the economic cost
    Document: During a pandemic, there are conflicting demands arising from public health and economic cost. Lockdowns are a common way of containing infections, but they adversely affect the economy. We study the question of how to minimise the economic damage of a lockdown while still containing infections. Our analysis is based on the SIR model, which we analyse using a clock set by the virus. This use of the"virus time"permits a clean mathematical formulation of our problem. We optimise the economic cost for a fixed health cost and arrive at a strategy for navigating the pandemic. This involves adjusting the level of lockdowns in a controlled manner so as to minimise the economic cost.

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