
Re-opening a nightclub in New York seems crazy at this point, as that’s just the kind of setting in which Covid-19 can spread like wildfire. But it wouldn’t be crazy if all of the workers and patrons had previously had Covid-19 and recovered from it.
Someday soon there will be millions of people in the U.S. who have recovered from Covid-19. The best evidence suggests that they can’t get infected again soon and won’t infect others by shedding the virus.
That suggests a path to run essential services more safely and to reopen sectors of the economy faster than would otherwise be possible. New York, Washington, California, and other states with high caseloads should rush to set up credible, verifiable, and voluntary programs to identify individuals as “certified recovered” from Covid-19. Researchers in Germany have recently proposed a similar program there.
Federal policymakers are currently being pulled in two directions. One is to close much of the economy and shelter people at home to limit the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19. But we all recoil at the economic and human devastation this creates, so Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus package geared mostly to keep the economy open and stimulate demand. Yet demand is hard to stimulate when so many things are closed, and it is dangerous to stimulate in ways that increase social contact and spread the virus.
Creating a path for the certified recovered from Covid-19 reduces the tension between jump-starting the economy and letting the virus run rampant.
Certification could begin by drawing on existing tests and hospital records, starting with individuals who already had both a positive test and matching symptoms. Now that fast antibody and viral tests have FDA approval, new testing will pick up speed. If certification piggybacks on such tests, the U.S. could create a substantial and vital new specialized labor force of the certified recovered in the short term.
Although no one knows with absolute certainty if people with antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus can be re-infected by it, immunity to the coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) lasted two years. For SARS-CoV-2, monkeys infected with SARS-CoV-2 are known to have developed immunity. And according to Martin Hibberd, an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, people who have recovered “are unlikely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 again.”
These early indications justify starting now to build a certification system. We urgently need to get as many people safely back to work as possible.
Certified recovered people could take up frontline contact positions in medicine and retail to make operations safer. They could work with the elderly and the vulnerable. Certified recovered persons could also work in food preparation. A service that prepared and delivered food only with recovered people would be quite popular. Buses on routes going to hospitals could be driven by recovered drivers. Possibilities abound as trust rebuilds. Just knowing that more and more people have beaten the virus and are back to work would be an immense boost to confidence.
To be sure, health conditions are a private matter, and no one should be forced to certify themselves. That said, demand by individuals to be voluntarily tested and certified could be intense.
The program would be ideal if it allowed undocumented workers to participate without fear or risk. It was cruel to leave them out of the stimulus support. It was also unwise from a public health perspective, as undocumented families will be forced to join an underground economy and work in defiance of local shelter-in-place ordinances, thereby endangering everyone.
One concern is that the uninfected could face job discrimination in certain jobs once a system for verifying the certified recovered is created. Recently reissued guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, however, suggests that the commission sees such discrimination as acceptable. If immunity is important to safely perform a job, then giving preference to those who are certified as recovered is justified, particularly in our present emergency. Getting more people working safely is paramount.
Quickly creating a certification system could speed economic recovery while slowing the virus. And perhaps the certified recovered, after working all day for the rest of us, could safely enjoy dancing the night away.
Aaron Edlin is a visiting scholar at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and professor of economics and law at UC Berkeley. Bryce Nesbitt is a co-founder of NextBus, a public transit information company.
So….I gotta go out and get the virus and recover to work again….sounds legit…..NOT ! Freakin bizarre sick world we are living in. Trash this article asap !
I’m upset at the assumptions which are being presented as “FACTS”. COVID-19 is too new to know if the recovered can be reinfected… or carry and pass it to others. When you get some illnesses,like pneumonia, you can get it again and it’s much worse after relapses especially if you don’t get complete rest and try to work through it. It’s bacterial,I know, but Hepatitis stays in your bloodstream FOR LIFE! You can never donate blood and that’s an example of a virus that is PERMANENT. All I’m saying is…Let’s err on the side of CAUTION. I love my country and fellow Americans and I’m much more concerned about losing more people to this virus than “stimulating ” the economy. Maybe we are due for some positive change…economically and socially..a government that works FOR us,not AGAINST us.
Our forefathers did very well WITHOUT processed foods,ready made non biodegradable goods and were much less reliant on industry for their necessities. It may be reactionary,but if they had been as dependent on commerce as much, as most of us are,we would likely not be here!
Face it! With all the outright lies,half truths,cover ups,misinformation and bad decisions, it would seem that the average person…WORLDWIDE is on their own. Even if you don’t agree,it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start taking responsibility for your own health,your immunity and grow at least some of your own food…organically,if possible..and not be so dependent on a dysfunctional system. I don’t think the Amish are worried about their next meal,rent or gas/ electricity. You have TIME NOW! Do things you thought you’d never have time for. Forego your old ways and create and discover new and healthier pursuits. It’s the American Spirit that will help us prevail!! Take care,All, and make good decisions. God Bless Us All!
So the idea is that the reward for “staying safe” is that you can’t be a productive member of society? All the healthy people under the age of 60 who haven’t been exposed and have almost no chance of landing in a hospital have to sit tight while this “certified” workforce does their thing? I really think you have missed the point of what mass testing will be able to do. It will help us be able to quickly identify and address outbreaks. In fairness to the authors, this bizarre idea appears to be what is floating around the press at this very moment. It makes no sense and wouldn’t result in a practical reopening of the country.
You are insane… voter ID is racist but this is good?
Apartheid in a more sinister form.
This article should be retracted since it does not pass a common sense test. Oh, BTW, there is NO guarantee that we will have a vaccine this novel virus. Remember, there is no vaccine for HIV after all these years. And the vaccine for seasonal flu often does not work.
First off, to this day there is a lot of negative stigma surrounding HIV. Second, it is far easier to protect oneself from contracting the virus. Third, there are therapies in place that are FDA approved to live life without too many complications. The same cannot be said about COVID-19.
There will be a vaccine for this novel Coronavirus. The world wants to get back to normal. If HIV could be spread by respiratory droplets, there would have been a vaccine 38 years ago.
We can’t wait for a vaccine that is not a fait accompli nor likely be a panacea if one is ever developed. We must start planning to open the economy sequentially using smart benchmarks that entertain acceptable risks. And open the economy in a way that does not discriminate. If a certain sector opens, everyone willing to be employed should be allowed to participate if they are qualified. If we don’t open up soon, there will be nothing left for most to live for anyway.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/6/planning-for-the-reopening-of-america-must-begin-n/
Learn from the THEODORE ROOSEVELT EXPERIENCE !