Notes on cost benefit of COVID‐19 lockdown

• Published in: Journal of applied clinical medical physics 2020-07, Vol.21 (7), p.4-6
• Main Authors: Mills, Michael, Allen, Mary Beth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - economics; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronaviruses; Cost estimates; Cost-Benefit Analysis; COVID-19; COVID-19 - economics; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; Disease transmission; Domestic violence; GDP; Gross Domestic Product; Health care policy; Humans; Infections; Intervention; Masks; Medical personnel; Mortality; Pandemics; Pandemics - economics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Patients; Personal protective equipment; Physical Distancing; Pneumonia, Viral - economics; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Population; Public Policy - economics; SARS-CoV-2; Social distancing; Sweden - epidemiology; United States - epidemiology; Valuation; Virulence
• ISSN: 1526-9914; 1526-9914
• DOI: 10.1002/acm2.12970

[...]World Health Organization experts and a range of other scientists have yet to find evidence to support any assertion that the coronavirus causing the COVID‐19 pandemic is losing potency. https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2020/06/reuters‐report‐is‐another‐classic‐case‐study‐in‐how‐not‐to‐cover‐covid‐19‐news/. [...]the CDC currently recommends the use of face coverings in public and continued social distancing, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019‐ncov/downloads/cloth‐face‐coverings‐information.pdf, but these guidelines were updated from early advice discouraging the use of face coverings by the general population due to a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/health/cdc‐masks‐coronavirus.html These positions are in contrast to the prevailing advice in many nations. In addition to current and future economic costs, there is no question that other important consequences resulted in routine medical and physical health as well as mental and social health costs. The failure of the federal government to act swiftly, which includes but is not limited to preparing the healthcare system for surges by expanding capacity and personnel, ensuring the availability of PPE, and dispatching test kits to all settings, left the US with few choices.