Category: Policies
-
But what about Sweden?
Discussing school closures and lockdowns, many people take Sweden as an example. “We should have done like them; they didn’t close and ended up relatively unscathed.” This argument is built under the assumption that if we had done like Sweden, we would have ended up like Sweden. Is this a sensible assumption? Only if early…
-
Was stopping people from going outside bad policy?
Stopping people from taking a walk or running outdoors has no direct benefit (because the risk of outdoor contagion in case of an airborne virus is pretty low). Moreover, it comes with hefty costs: people need ways to exercise and avoid feeling trapped in the house, and removing ways to fulfill those needs leads to…
-
How can we prevent the next pandemic?
Watch the video, read the text further below, or download the flyer at the bottom. The 2020 pandemic brought plenty of suffering – both from COVID directly and from the measures that were implemented as a reaction to the virus. If we want to avoid similar suffering in the future, we must prevent the next…
-
Why should we care about a virus with a 99.8% survival rate?
Watch the video, read the text further below, or download the flyer at the bottom. This is a commonly asked question. There might be reasons to dispute the 99.8% figure with respect to COVID, but for the sake of the argument, let’s assume that the survival rate is indeed 99.8%. Why should we care about…
-
How to safely keep schools open during a pandemic?
Watch the video, read the text further below, or download the flyer at the bottom. During the recent pandemic, schools in many countries faced temporary closures. These are obviously bad – primarily because of their impact on the learning and socialization of the students, but also because of the pressures they put on families that…
-
The bad, the ugly, and the good about lockdowns
Lockdowns come with huge socio-economic costs. Hence, it’s important to understand whether they also offer any benefit and, if so, when their use is justified, if ever. Before we continue, a clarification: the article refers to lockdowns only limiting indoor activities. Limiting outdoor activities mostly doesn’t make sense, and implementing such measures was mostly a…
-
Do lockdowns work?
Lockdowns come with huge socio-economic costs but do help reduce deaths. Another article on this website examines the socio-economic costs of lockdowns and whether their viral spread benefits are worth it. This article is solely about whether lockdowns help reduce deaths. Before we continue, a clarification: the article refers to lockdowns only limiting indoor activities.…
-
Why does reducing viral spread matter even for the healthy?
Covid is known to disproportionately kill the old and the vulnerable. This has led many healthy young people to think that reducing the viral spread between the healthy doesn’t matter. Is it true? There are three considerations to make: direct risks, indirect risks, and societal costs. Let’s see them one by one. Direct risks For…
-
How to organize a safe Thanksgiving dinner with vulnerable family members
Watch the video, read the text further below, or download the flyer at the bottom. Imagine it’s November. Thanksgiving is in two weeks, and you’re planning to spend it with your family, which includes some vulnerable elders. A recent wave of viral infections makes you worry that you might infect your grandma, but you do…