Reopening the Economy: The Relative Dangers and Benefits of Locations By Category
A recent study by Seth Benzell, Avinash Collis, and Christos Nicolaides analyzes the COVID-19 transmission risk and social benefits of thirty categories of locations in the U.S., from parks, to museums, to grocery stores. By combining several measures of the importance and danger of these categories and juxtaposing the danger and importance of these locations, the study yields a ranking of what should be opened earlier versus later in the economic restart process.
The researchers observed a 24.9 percent decline in the total number of visits between February and March 2020 to all the places of interest included in the analysis. They also found that from February to March, there were larger declines in visits to the locations that the study’s measures imply should be closed first.

Last Updated on April 20, 2020 by Ramin Seddiq