10 May 2020 – Policy Brief

Economic Considerations of Test-Isolate-Trace-Quarantine (TITQ)

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Financial and legal protections for affected individuals are necessary for a successful Test-Isolate-Trace-Quarantine (TITQ) strategy.

Executive summary

Testing and quarantining both have private as well as social costs and benefits. This note explains these trade-offs and derives implications for (a) the mechanism to allocate the costs of testing, and (b) the provision of income for those confined to quarantine. As a unified TITQ strategy is in the public interest also for economic reasons, the federal government could act as a single payer. Moreoever, individuals confined to quarantine need to be financially and legally protected to strengthen compliance with the measures.

Date of request: 
Date of response: 10/5/2020

In response to request from: NCS-TF

Comment on planned updates: 

Expert groups and individuals involved: Economics

Contact persons: Monika.Buetler@unisg.ch (inputs by economics and other expert groups)

As the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force has been disbanded as of 31 March 2022, no further epidemiological assessments, scientific updates or policy briefs will be published in the future. All previous publications, pages and information of the Science Task Force remain available on this website.