UCLA-led research proposes strategies to control pandemic with fewer restrictions on the economy

According to the strategy, each group of who intend to shop at a supermarket, for example, would be divided into two subgroups and allowed to shop either in the morning or afternoon. Anna Shvets/Pexels According to the strategy, each group of who intend to shop at a supermarket, for example, would be divided into two subgroups and allowed to shop either in the morning or afternoon. An international team led by UCLA Fielding School of Public Health researchers has developed and tested two strategies for sustaining economic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. If used together and followed closely, they write, the approaches could reduce transmission of the coronavirus by an amount comparable to that of a strict lockdown, while also maintaining economic activity. The team, made up of researchers from nine institutions and led by Dr. Akihiro Nishi , a UCLA assistant professor of epidemiology, put forward two concepts that Nishi describes as rationing time and rationing capacity. "Although lockdown and safer at home policies have been shown to be effective in lowering the number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19, governments in many countries are confronted by significant political, economic and social pressure to reopen their economies,' Nishi said. "This research provides a basis for real-world policies that — if strictly managed and maintained — could accomplish that goal, while keeping people as safe as possible.' The research is published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.