The COVID-19 pandemic not only threatened the health of people around the world, but also exacted a significant toll on the global economy.

New groundbreaking research from Northeastern and international partners offers a model for weighing the tradeoffs between protecting public health and the economy during the next pandemic.

The research can be used by policymakers when deciding what industries should remain open and the timing of lockdowns.

“These findings could prove pivotal in tackling future pandemics,” says Alessandro Vespignani, the director of the Network Science Institute and Sternberg Family Distinguished Professor of Physics at Northeastern, and one of the co-authors of the Nature Human Behaviour article.

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Photo by AP Photo/Charlie Riedel