Harvard Covid-19 Strategy
COVID-19 IS A PROFOUND THREAT TO OUR DEMOCRACY, COMPARABLE TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II.
As Harvard Covid-19 Strategy research, the greatest bulwark of democracy is us. What we do together—for one another and, even more, with one another—to fight this terrible disease, protect human life, secure our institutions, and prevent the destruction of our economy will determine whether free societies will prove resilient in the face of existential emergency.
What we need to do is much bigger than most people realize. We need to massively scale-up testing, contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine—together with providing the resources to make these possible for all individuals.
Broad and rapid access to testing is vital for disease monitoring, rapid public health response, and disease control.
Harvard Covid-19 Strategy suggests that we need to deliver 5 million tests per day by early June to deliver a safe social reopening. This number will need to increase over time (ideally by late July) to 20 million a day to fully remobilize the economy. We acknowledge that even this number may not be high enough to protect public health. In that considerably less likely eventuality, we will need to scale-up testing much further.
By the time we know if we need to do that, we should be in a better position to know how to do it. In any situation, achieving these numbers depends on testing innovation.
Download the Harvard Covid-19 Strategy full report
The great value of this approach is that it will prevent cycles of opening up and shutting down. It allows us to steadily reopen the parts of the economy that have been shut down, protect our frontline workers, and contain the virus to levels where it can be effectively managed and treated until we can find a vaccine.
We can have bottom-up innovation and participation and top-down direction and protection at the same time; that is what our federal system is designed for.
The Harvard Covid-19 Strategy policy roadmap lays out how massive testing plus contact tracing plus social isolation with strong social supports, or TTSI, can rebuild trust in our personal safety and the safety of those we love. This will in turn support a renewal of mobility and mobilization of the economy.
This paper is designed to educate the American public about what is emerging as a consensus national strategy. The work has been produced in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation and builds on important work already released by Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the Duke Margolis Center for Public Health Policy, Center for American Progress, and the American Enterprise Institute.
- The level of testing and supported isolation we need depends on how effectively we can trace people’s contacts, warn those contacts about their exposure and need for a test, test them, and isolate those who are COVID-positive.
- To succeed, isolation must be supported with job protections, resource support, and health care.
- Testing and public health response—in programs established by states and administered by local health authorities—can and should be fully aligned with civil liberties, due process, non-discrimination, data and health privacy protections, and health ethics.
TO ACHIEVE THESE THINGS, WE NEED THE FOLLOWING:
- Innovation in testing methodologies.
- A Pandemic Testing Board set up by the federal government with strong but narrow powers that has the job of securing the testing supply and the infrastructure necessary for deployment of testing.
- Federal and/or state guidance for state testing programs that accord with due process, civil liberties, equal protection, non-discrimination, and privacy standards.
- Readiness frameworks to support local health leaders, mayors, tribal leaders, and other public officials in setting up test administration processes and isolation support resources.
- Organizational innovation at the local level linking cities, counties, and health districts, with specifics varying from state to state.
- Federal and state investment in contact tracing personnel, starting with an investment in 100,000 personnel (recommendation from JHU Center for Health Security).
- Clear mechanisms and norms of governance and enforcement around the design and use of peerto-peer warning apps, including maximal privacy protection, availability of open source code for independent and regulatory audit, and prohibitions on the use of any data from these apps for commercial purposes, ideally achieved through pre-emptive legislation.
- Support for quarantine and isolation in the form of jobs protections and material support for time in quarantine and isolation as well as access to health care.
- An expanded U.S. Public Health Service Corps and Medical (or Health) Reserves Corps (paid service roles), and addition of Health Reserves Corps to the National Guard units of each state.
- National Infectious Disease Forecasting Center to modernize disease tracking (Recommendation from Scott Gottlieb, AEI).
Consensus is emerging about what we need. How to do it is beginning to come into view. The time for action has arrived.
Download the Harvard Covid-19 Strategy full report
Watch Live Stream & Real Time Statistics of COVID-19
Other COVID-19 Articles
COVID-19: SOCIAL IMPACT
GineersNow Distributes PPE to Medical Workers
Israeli Cured COVID-19 Patients Using Placenta
COVID-19: HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL
Harvard Covid-19 Strategy: How to Reopen a Country
Harvard Talks: Engineering Leaders Will Engage in Teaming
Harvard Talks: Forward-Thinking Engineering Leaders
Harvard Talks: Engineering Operation Impact of COVID-19
Harvard Talks: 7 Leadership Principles in the Time of COVID-19
Harvard Talks: Engineering Work Culture After COVID-19 Pandemic
Harvard Talks: 7 Leadership Principles in the Time of COVID-19
Harvard Talks: Cut Salaries or Cut People?
Harvard Talks: The Supply Chain in Post COVID-19 Era
COVID-19: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
WHO Preparedness and Response to COVID-19
WHO Q&A: COVID-19 and Influenza Comparison
COVID-19: CONSTRUCTION
Construction Force Majeure During COVID-19
Converting Existing Building to COVID-19 Hospital – WHO Guidelines
WHO COVID-19 Buildings & Tents Screening Layout Standards
Wellness Glass Walls by The Sliding Door Company to Help Combat COVID-19
COVID-19: HVAC
Ventilation Standards for Buildings Converted to COVID-19 Hospitals
Air Filtration for COVID-19 Treatment Centers
ASHRAE on COVID-19 HVAC Concerns
COVID-19: ENERGY
Oil Price Crashes Below $0 per Barrel
Coronavirus will accelerate the growth of renewable energy solutions
COVID-19: ECONOMIC IMPACT
COVID-19 Economic Impact Analysis
COVID-19 Economic Aftermath on the Construction Industry
Postponed Exhibitions in the Philippines due to COVID-19
Cancelled Major Events Around the World Due to COVID-19
World Bank Gives $12 Billion to COVID-19 Affected Countries
COVID-19: VENTILATORS, TESTING & PPE
UCLA Biodesign Fellow Focuses Biomedical Engineering Insights on Swabs Shortage
Here’s the Tesla Ventilator Prototype
Lamborghini Medical Shields & Surgical Masks for Health Workers
UCLA Engineer Made a Ventilator from Hardware Items
Forecast Deaths, Hospitals & Ventilators: COVID-19 Impact, USA Full Report
Top 10 Largest Ventilator Manufacturers in the World
Metronic Ventilator Ramping Up Production
Engineers, Can You Help Build a DIY Ventilator for Hospitals?
PPE Shortage Endangering Health Workers Worldwide
COVID-19: STATISTICS & FORECASTS
COVID-19 Deaths to Reach 81,000 in US By June – Forecasts by IHME & Univ. of Washington
List of Government Officials Tested Positive in PH
COVID-19 War: 70K Physicians vs 109M Filipinos
Famous People Who Have Tested Positive for COVID-19
These Politicians Tested Positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19)
COVID-19 Philippines: DOH on Code Red Status
COVID-19: SCIENCE
COVID-19 Treatment: The Search Continues
Complete List of Companies Working on Coronavirus Vaccine
Tiger Tests Positive for Coronavirus at New York Zoo
COVID:19: PREVENTION TIPS
How to Create a COVID-19 Proof Workplace
Work From Home Tips for Engineering, Industrial & Tech Companies
Water is Our First Line of Defense Against COVID-19
The List of COVID-19 Disinfectants Approved by EPA
COVID-19: TECHNOLOGY
How Artificial Intelligence Can Drive Greater Speed and Accuracy in Vaccine Development
Cyber-Criminals are Exploiting People’s Fears of COVID-19
COVID-19: MARKETING
Rewriting Marketing in Times of COVID-19 Crisis?
Hyundai Motor Extends Warranties Due to COVID-19
Top 5 Most Traded Stocks During COVID-19
COVID-19: AVIATION
Can We Give Airline Financial Relief to Protect Their Jobs?
COVID-19: APAC Air Passenger Demand Dropped 65.5%
Emirates Airline Passenger Rules During COVID-19
Airlines Around the World are Struggling to Survive
Show Your COVID-19 Test Result at the Airport
The Most Modern Flying Hospital with ICU from Germany
COVID-19 Impact: 25 Million Jobs at Risk with Airline Shutdown
Airbus Gives 3D-Printed Hospital Visors to Health Workers
Airlines COVID-19 Analysis: Aviation Collapsed
Air Cargo Demand Down 3.3% due to COVID-19 Disruption
