Study of usefulness of lockdowns during epidemics identifies alternate solution

The COVID-19 pandemic raised questions about when and to what extent costly nonpharmaceutical interventions (e.g., lockdowns) should be used to slow the contagious spread of the virus. In a new study, researchers tackled that question with a dynamic optimization model. They found that small changes can tip the optimal response between very different approaches and identified an alternate approach that has previously not been recognized as effective.