Outlines “steps that can be taken as epidemic transmission is brought under control in different regions”
- Phase 1: Slow the Spread – Lists thresholds for action and 8 required steps: maintain physical distancing, increase testing capacity, ensure the functioning of the health care system, increase PPE supply, implement comprehensive Covid-19 surveillance, massively scale contact tracing, offer voluntary local isolation/quarantine, encourage wearing of masks;
- Phase 2: Reopen, State by State – Begin to relax physical distancing, special care for vulnerable populations, accelerate the development of therapeutics, identify those who are immune;
- Phase 3: Establish Protection Then Lift All Restrictions – Vaccine or therapeutic prioritization when supply is limited, mass vaccination or therapeutic distribution when supply is abundant, global vaccine scale-up and vaccination, serological surveys to determine population immunity;
- Phase 4: Rebuild Readiness for the Next Pandemic – Develop vaccines for novel viruses in months not years, modernize and fortify the health care system, establish a national infectious disease forecasting center, make appropriate changes in governance.
Note: Although addressed to an American audience, this “Road Map” should be useful to other governments. Authors Scott Gottlieb, Mark B. McClellan, and Lauren Silvis are formers leaders of the US Food & Drug Administration; Caitlin Rivers and Crystal Watson are at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
