Pandemic Risk Protection: The Role of Government

Governments play a critical role in helping reduce disaster risks to society. While traditional disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, and floods have garnered most of their attention, COVID-19 has demonstrated the urgent need for governments to build resilience for pandemics.

In our new report Pandemic Risk Protection: Accelerate Recovery and Build Resilience Now Through Public-Private Partnership we describe how a public-private pandemic risk solution can accelerate our economic recovery and provide much-needed protection against future pandemic risks.

Governments can best contribute to this partnership by embracing the three pillars of resilience: preparedness, mitigation, and insurance.

Preparedness

Federal, state, and local governments must stockpile more equipment, including ventilators, masks, and other types of PPE that have become incredibly valuable commodities for some communities. Crisis response plans are also key, provided they are updated now, to reflect lessons learned from COVID-19 and regularly tested through tabletop exercises and other means. Governments can also encourage and facilitate data-sharing efforts by both the private and public sectors, which can aid preparedness and response efforts.

Mitigation

Largely, mitigation steps — including social distancing, handwashing, wearing masks, and more — are the responsibility of individuals. Governments can support these efforts by providing guidance and education to people and businesses about how they can prevent or slow the spread of the disease. Governments can also facilitate mitigation by providing guidance on how to protect essential workers during a pandemic or epidemic.

Insurance

While commercial insurers excel at allowing businesses, public entities, and nonprofit organizations to transfer the risks related to natural hazards and other critical risks, a pandemic could result in virtually unlimited losses — which, today, are largely uninsured. Historically, insurance coverage for the risks related to infectious disease has been limited or available only at a high cost. And public entities have relied largely on Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds or ad hoc funding measures to mitigate financial losses. A federal backstop can facilitate the creation of a viable insurance market that can offer affordable coverage for businesses, public entities, and nonprofits and provide crucial peace of mind to businesses.

Collectively, focusing on these areas can help build economic resilience and national readiness.

I encourage you to download the report to see how building a public private partnership for pandemic risk protection can accelerate recovery and build resilience.