Towards Global Pandemic Resilience

COVID-19 Rapid Response Impact Initiative. White Paper 11 Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics (2020)

49 Pages Posted: 13 Jan 2021

See all articles by Rajiv Sethi

Rajiv Sethi

Barnard College, Columbia University; Santa Fe Institute

Divya Siddarth

Microsoft Corporation - Microsoft Research India

Alisha Caroline Holland

Harvard University

Belinda Archibong

Columbia University - Barnard College

Francis Annan

Georgia State University

Rohini Somanathan

University of Delhi - Department of Economics

Juan-Camilo Cárdenas

Universidad de Los Andes

Date Written: April 23, 2020

Abstract

Across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has been most devastating to already-vulnerable populations. At the same time, it has brought our interconnectedness into sharp focus. Policies chosen in one jurisdiction affect conditions in others, and even regions isolated from each other are linked through third parties. This calls for harmonization of strategies across countries worldwide. However, regions differ sharply in their levels of medical and public health infrastructure, population density, concentrated poverty, patterns of internal migration, access to communication technologies, ability to bid on global markets, protection of privacy and civil liberties, communal tensions, and institutions of social support. Hence, policy responses also need to be carefully tailored to local conditions. This paper considers varied experiences with tackling the pandemic, with particular focus on three regions -- India, Africa, and Latin America -- that are collectively home to forty percent of the world’s population. These regions face several challenges to adopting the testing, tracing, and supported isolation (TTSI) roadmap that we have proposed for the United States. We reflect on alternative policy trajectories that can help us transition back to work and social activity while safeguarding human lives worldwide.

Keywords: COVID-19, Pandemic

JEL Classification: I14, I15, I18

Suggested Citation

Sethi, Rajiv and Siddarth, Divya and Holland, Alisha Caroline and Archibong, Belinda and Annan, Francis and Somanathan, Rohini and Cárdenas, Juan-Camilo, Towards Global Pandemic Resilience (April 23, 2020). COVID-19 Rapid Response Impact Initiative. White Paper 11 Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics (2020), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3762248

Rajiv Sethi

Barnard College, Columbia University ( email )

3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States
212-854-5140 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.columbia.edu/~rs328/

Santa Fe Institute

1399 Hyde Park Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501
United States

Divya Siddarth

Microsoft Corporation - Microsoft Research India ( email )

9, Vigyan, Lavelle Road
Karnataka
India

Alisha Caroline Holland

Harvard University ( email )

1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Belinda Archibong (Contact Author)

Columbia University - Barnard College ( email )

3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States

Francis Annan

Georgia State University ( email )

35 Broad St NW
Atlanta, GA 30309
United States

Rohini Somanathan

University of Delhi - Department of Economics ( email )

Delhi-110007
India

Juan-Camilo Cárdenas

Universidad de Los Andes ( email )

Carrera 1a No. 18A-10
Santafe de Bogota, AA4976
Colombia
339-4949 ext. 2473 (Phone)

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