Economics of Pandemics ECON 3201A ASSIGNMENT 1 Instructions: 1

Economics of Pandemics ECON 3201A ASSIGNMENT 1

Instructions:

1. You must follow the instructions exactly as described below for completing and submitting your work on cuLearn. Hand written parts of the answers should be legible. Please put page numbers on your answer sheets and scan them into a pdf. You may use Word or another word processing software. I find the ‘Scannable app’, which is free, convenient for scanning documents.

2. Your work must be submitted to the ‘Assignment 1’ folder under the ‘Assignment’ section of the course page on cuLearn. Your work must be submitted as a single file in .pdf format. The file should be named as follows: Lastname-A1.pdf

3. Points correlate with the degree of clarity, quality, and completeness of your answers.

4. Submit by: September 28th, 11:59 pm EDT.

Question 1: 60 points, 200-250 words

Why is it important to ‘flatten the pandemic curve? Briefly describe the two public health strategies of Mitigation and Suppression for controlling the contagion. How might these approaches differ in both flattening the pandemic curve and flattening the ‘recession curve’? Explain clearly and briefly. Use a hand-sketched diagram to support your explanation. Which approach would you support? Provide a brief justification

Question 2: 40 points, 150-200 From the publicly available database Our World in Data, pick any three countries (other than Canada, U.S., and China). Using the available interface make the figures for:

• Tests per confirmed COVID-19 case

• The Case Fatality Rate (CFR)

Using the download button, save these two figures as .png files and embed it in your pdf file. List the countries you have chosen. Provide one or two line rationale for your decision. Briefly describe and comment on the patterns you observe. Is there a systematic pattern between Tests per confirmed COVID-19 case and the CFR? Explain clearly and briefly