LIVES VS LIVELIHOODS

Models ask, is it possible to have both?

As businesses close and unemployment queues grow, decisions are painted as a choice between lives of $7.9 trillion – roughly $60,000 per household – due to the 1.7 million lives that would be lost without moderate social distancing measures in place. “Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think it’s this choice between saving a few people’s lives versus people’s jobs,” says Raina MacIntyre from the University of NSW. “But you have to have disease control or the economic consequences will be much worse; the recovery will take a lot longer.”