Let’s Do This One Thing to Combat Covid-19, Globally
A detailed picture of how it spreads will help all nations
This paper recommends a full-population testing regime in a relatively large ‘small’ country, such as New Zealand — for better health and economic outcomes in that country, and to deliver the world’s first detailed transmission map of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, benefiting all countries.
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The pandemic sweeping the globe today threatens a repeat of 1918, when entire armies returned home — including ANZAC troops — some infected with a new deadly form of influenza.
Issuing demobilization orders without first treating the disease, military leaders addressed the immediate needs of war-weary soldiers, less cognizant of the future. Like leaders a few months ago seeking, apparently, to favor economies, seemingly unthinking of the social and economic consequences.
Notwithstanding such decisions, however, there may now be a brief window of opportunity to create the most intimately detailed picture of Covid-19, and to present it as a neighbourly gift to the world — benefiting the citizens and businesses of all nations.
The immediate future looks grim, but the pandemic has at least one silver lining. Scaled-up, a new-found sense of shared humanity offers hope.
