Covid Insights Institute

While COVID-19 can affect us all, the effects of the pandemic are different for each country. The sudden stop of trade and production means a critical impact for developing economies which normally lack savings and credit capacity. In the attached article, we find a deepr analysis of this harsh situation. Daud Khan and Leila Yasmine Khan conclude "If, due to problems caused by the COVID-19 crisis, there is widespread defaults among poor countries this would pose serious probl...ems for the global economy. It is therefore imperative that requests for debt forgiveness or rescheduling do not fall on deaf ears." http://www.ipsnews.net//economic-impact-covid-19-developi/

Well, the "new normal' sure sounds a lot like 'contact tracing!' Very curious to hear your thoughts on the below, a privacy-centred app for contact tracing. "While we’re living in uncertain and humbling times, the amount of knowledge sharing and collaboration world-wide is truly incredible. For the past weeks I have been working with an international team of technologist and health experts, now known as The Zerobase Foundation. Together with the New England Complex Systems I...nstitute, we have launched a free, privacy-first contact tracing solution to empower individuals and communities to stop the spread of COVID-19. Contact tracing is used to identify anyone who has had close contact with an infected person or areait is a crucial part of modern pandemic response. By notifying those who have been exposed to self isolate temporarily and/or get tested, we can slow the spread of the virus. This will become especially useful when the world comes out of lock-down, to ensure we are better equipped to contain future outbreaks and reduce resurgence. In the past this process has been slow and costly, or highly effective, but compromises on individual privacy and trust. Several leading public health authorities, universities, and NGOs have been doing important work to develop opt-in contact tracing technology. While every solution has unique trade-offs, our focus is on privacy-preserving solutions that even the most under-resourced communities can access. As well as providing access to age groups most at risk older citizens who often don’t have the latest technologies. In contrasts to centralised solutions, Zerobase doesn’t track your identity or location. There’s no App, no installation, no sign up required. If you are curious how this could help your community or business, or would like to volunteer, reach out!" https://www.zerobase.io/

FLATTENING THE CURVE " In short, the flatter you want the contagion curve to be, the more you will need to lock down your country and the more fiscal space you will require to mitigate the deeper recession that will result. The problem for most of the Global South is that policymakers lack fiscal space even in the best of times" "Flattening the COVID-19 curve will require concerted economic action at the #internationallevel, especially with respect to developing countries. ...Given the global nature of the problem, #doing the #right thing is the #smartest thing to do". https://www.weforum.org//flattening-the-covid-19-curve-in/

"How should governments respond to minimize supply chain disruptions and fallout from lockdowns and other restrictions? The general strategy must be two-pronged: Implement robust public health measures to slow the spread of disease; and address food security impacts, particularly the potentially enormous effects on income and employment" https://www.ifpri.org//how-covid-19-may-disrupt-food-suppl

Are you #TeamZizek or #TeamHan ? What is the future of our system?