A Simple Planning Problem for COVID-19 Lock-down, Testing and Tracing

We study the optimal lock-down for a planner who controls the fatalities of COVID-19 while minimizing the output costs of the lockdown. The policy prescribes a severe lock-down beginning a few weeks after the outbreak, covering almost 50 percent of the population after a month, with a total duration shy of 4 months. The intensity of the optimal lock-down depends on the gradient of the fatality rate with respect to the infected and the availability of antibody testing, which yields a welfare gain of 2 percent of GDP. We also study test-tracing-quarantine, which we show to be complementary to lock-down.

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Work Title A Simple Planning Problem for COVID-19 Lock-down, Testing and Tracing
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. David Argente
  2. Fernandez Alvarez
  3. Francisco Lippi
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. American Economic Review: Insights
Publication Date September 2021
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20200201
Deposited July 20, 2022

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added AER_Insights__1_.pdf
  • Added Creator David Argente
  • Added Creator Fernandez Alvarez
  • Added Creator Francisco Lippi
  • Published
  • Updated Publisher Identifier (DOI), Publication Date Show Changes
    Publisher Identifier (DOI)
    • https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20200201
    Publication Date
    • 2021-09-01
    • 2021-09
  • Updated Work Title Show Changes
    Work Title
    • A Simple Planning Problem for COVID-19 Lockdown, Testing and Tracing
    • A Simple Planning Problem for COVID-19 Lock-down, Testing and Tracing
  • Updated