Timely pandemic countermeasures reduce both health damage and economic loss: Generality of the exact solution

TL;DR

This paper analytically demonstrates that timely moderate pandemic measures effectively balance health and economic impacts, grounded in a novel theoretical approach inspired by thermodynamics and econophysics.

Contribution

It introduces a new theoretical framework and an exact solution showing how timely measures optimize health and economic outcomes during pandemics.

Findings

Timely measures reduce health damage and economic loss.

The approach is based on a general inequality derived from econophysics.

The methodology offers a novel theoretical contribution to the field.

Abstract

Balancing pandemic control and economics is challenging, as the numerical analysis assuming specific economic conditions complicates obtaining predictable general findings. In this study, we analytically demonstrate how adopting timely moderate measures helps reconcile medical effectiveness and economic impact, and explain it as a consequence of the general finding of ``economic irreversibility" by comparing it with thermodynamics. A general inequality provides the guiding principles on how such measures should be implemented. The methodology leading to the exact solution is a novel theoretical contribution to the econophysics literature.