Harvard Business Review: Lessons from Italy’s Response to Coronavirus

An excerpt:

While Lombardy and Veneto applied similar approaches to social distancing and retail closures, Veneto took a much more proactive tack towards the containment of the virus…

• Extensive testing of symptomatic and asymptomatic cases early on.
• Proactive tracing of potential positives. If someone tested positive, everyone in that patient’s home as well as their neighbors were tested. If testing kits were unavailable, they were self-quarantined.
• A strong emphasis on home diagnosis and care. Whenever possible, samples were collected directly from a patient’s home and then processed in regional and local university labs.
• Specific efforts to monitor and protect health care and other essential workers.

“The virus is faster than our bureaucracy.” ..Together, the need for immediate action and for massive mobilization imply that an effective response to this crisis will require a decision-making approach that is far from business as usual. If policymakers want to win the war against Covid-19, it is essential to adopt one that is systemic, prioritizes learning, and is able to quickly scale successful experiments and identify and shut down the ineffective ones. Yes, this a tall order — especially in the midst of such an enormous crisis

For those who live in Georgia, here’s a link to the official COVID-19 numbers from DPH:

• Georgia DPH: COVID-19 Daily Status Report
• It is worth noting that Georgia has a very high postive test rate (22%) compared to many states which likely indicates inadequate testing and a large number of undetected cases.