News Room

The World Health Organization has been criticized for being slow to declare a public health emergency and a pandemic as COVID-19 spread. Yale SOM’s Saed Alizamir, with Francis de Véricourt of ESMT and Shouqiang Wang of the University of Texas at Dallas, recently published a study that uses game theory to play out the tradeoffs that the WHO and other public agencies face as they try to give timely warnings while maintaining their credibility. We asked them what their findings say about the response to COVID-19.

Grocery aisles look post-apocalyptic right now. Toilet paper? It will make a comeback, but in its place, life-preserving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies could become perilously scarce a true additional emergency.

If supply chains can keep pace with demand, food manufacturers may be one of the few industries that could actually see some economic benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 11, 2020, President Trump banned travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days to slow the spread of COVID-19. Travelers who are legally allowed to enter the U.S., such as U.S. citizens and their families, are now undergoing screening procedures to test for COVID-19 when they reenter the U.S. at one of 13 airports. Various news media report that thousands of these travelers are waiting together for several hours in close quarters for their checked bags and several additional hours to clear customs.

Rarely in life are we encouraged to be selfish – let alone told this selfish deed is actually an altruistic act. But now, with the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, we all have such an opportunity.