Covid-19: were we prepared? A look into our pre-Covid pandemic plans

A HSMC Seminar with Postdoctoral Researcher Celia Blanco-Jimenez from the London School of Economics

The world is often said to have prepared for the wrong kind of pandemic, anticipating a new strain of influenza. In fact, a number of plans were in place for the rapid spread of a respiratory disease. But none anticipated that lockdowns or travel restrictions would be put in place. Indeed, most pandemic plans advised against any international restriction of movement even in the case of a more virulent epidemic, and the word “lockdown” did not appear in our plans.

Speaker: 

Celia is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the London School of Economics, at the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. She obtained her PhD from the Royal Holloway University of London, where she specialised in Behavioural Economics. Her research studies how psychological and cognitive factors affect our perception and hence our decision-making process, and some of her previous work specifically focuses on dishonest behaviour, workers performance incentives, and nudges as a policy tool. 

The presentation slides from the event are also available to view.