These are dark times. Responses to covid-19, require informed opinions from a variety of scholars, not just epidemiological models. The insights from behavioural scientists, in particular, can help us to balance the difficult trade-offs between lockdown and opening the economy. Given the precarious living standards of many South Africans, we should caution against a too conservative approach – one that focuses only on what we measure (mortality and morbidity from disease) and ignores what we don't (mortality and morbidity from malnutrition). We have to choose between a rock and a hard place, a choice that we can only make if we listen to the voices from several scientific fields.
Time to listen to more voices
Time to listen to more voices
Time to listen to more voices
These are dark times. Responses to covid-19, require informed opinions from a variety of scholars, not just epidemiological models. The insights from behavioural scientists, in particular, can help us to balance the difficult trade-offs between lockdown and opening the economy. Given the precarious living standards of many South Africans, we should caution against a too conservative approach – one that focuses only on what we measure (mortality and morbidity from disease) and ignores what we don't (mortality and morbidity from malnutrition). We have to choose between a rock and a hard place, a choice that we can only make if we listen to the voices from several scientific fields.