Prof. Amnon Shashua

Prof. Shai Shalev-Shwartz

Guidelines for resuming economic activity in the face of the COVID-19 crisis

Hebrew

As social-distancing restrictions are being lifted in Israel, the public understanding is that we will need to adjust to a way of life where we balance fear of the coronavirus pandemic against the importance of adapting to a new-normal; a new reality in which we will have to balance health and economics. Currently, there isn't a clear picture of how life will continue in either realm. Removing restrictions across the population, even gradually, will inevitably cause an increase in the number of infected and critically-ill patients and recurring closures, requiring unprecedented economic and social adaptability. Few countries can sustain the price of economic paralysis for such a long period, the result of which may be irreversible. 


The strategy for dealing with the virus proposed in the following articles, together with the underlying mathematical model, show it's not a zero-sum game. We have the ability to maintain public health while at the same time preventing a financial disaster.

  1. Thomas Friedman, Is Sweden Doing It Right?, The New-York Times, April 28, 2020.
  2. Clear Cut Separation Strategy Can End Corona Crisis in Three Months, Says Mobileye CEO , Calcalistech, March 19, 2020.
  3. Mobileye mogul’s model for lifting the coronavirus lockdown, Jerusalem Post, April 13, 2020.
  4. Professor Amnon Shashua interviewed by Keren Martziano, Channel 12, 2/4/2020.
  5. Moav Vardi on the Exit Strategy, Tonight's News on Channel 11, 21/4/2020.
  6. "We don't need to choose between the economy and public health," Professor Amnon Shashua in an opinion piece of Yediot Achronot. 19/4/2020.
  7. Professor Amnon Shashua interviewed by Nachum Barnea, Yediot Achronot.
  8. Professor Amnon Shashua interviewed by Diana Bachor Nir, Calcalist. 29/3/2020.  

From the news:

Articles:

1. S. Shalev-Shwartz, A. Shashua , The Day after COVID-19 Lockdown: Need to Focus on the Vulnerable. April 27, 2020 Medium.

Description: Provides guidelines for implementing the insights gained from the formal models. These guidelines propose "living with COVID-19" along with economic activities, including resumption of the education system.

2. S. Shalev-Shwartz, A. Shashua, An Exit Strategy from the Covid-19 Lockdown based on Risk-sensitive Resource Allocation, CBMM memo 106, April 15, 2020.

Description: In this document we present an exit strategy based on the principle of separation and distribution of resources by risk groups. With the help of the SEIR model, we provide a mathematical tool that proves that the health system can manage the severe morbidity rates, as well as estimate the mortality rate in various scenarios.

3. S. Shalev-Shwartz, A. Shashua, Can we Contain Covid-19 without Locking-down the Economy?, CBMM memo 104, April 6, 2020.

Articles:

5. The code for the mathematical model in Github

4. Computational and Statistical Tools to Control a Pandemic: A Panel Discussion with Prof. Shai Shalev-Shwartz. Simons Institute, Berkely University.