In 1999 the WHO (World Health Organisation) devised a blueprint based on Phases for dealing with a pandemic, subsequently updated in 2005.
It set out six Phases, to provide a global framework to aid countries to prepare for a pandemic and plan their response.
The first three Phases cover animal transmission escalating to domesticated animals and eventually germs spreading to humans defined as a Zoonotic disease. These initial phases also deal with the preparation, capacity development and response planning activities, while the last three Phases deal with the response and mitigation efforts when a disease transmits from human to human.
Phase 4 deals with verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal virus and its ability to cause “community-level outbreaks”. Phase 5 deals with the human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region and the sixth Phase is the Pandemic Phase where virus transmits from human-to-human in at least one other country outside the region identified in Phase 5.
These are relatively straightforward definitions, but how different governments, businesses and people react to them is another matter altogether.
As has been clear during the current Coronavirus Pandemic state-level reactions for dealing with a pandemic have varied widely both in the state measures adopted and how stringently they have been implemented, with countries like South Korea at one extreme imposing a strict lockdown and restriction on movement from fairly early on when there were just a few cases, to Sweden, which has imposed relatively few restrictions and no lockdown.
However, the disparity in various state reactions to dealing with a pandemic has arguably informed the way both citizens and businesses have reacted. In the UK much of the initial focus was on the economic impact with the Chancellor introducing a wide range of financial support measures for both businesses and employees. However, some argue that the initial infection control was not as stringent as it might have been.
Scientists at Harvard university have mapped the behaviour of people in response to a Pandemic and also identified similar Phases of reaction to those set out by the WHO.
Initially, their research found that in the case of a severe Pandemic, the initial reaction by people when they become aware of a risk is to overreact. They become hypervigilant, pause “normal” behaviour, and “take precautions that may be excessive, may be inappropriate, and are certainly premature” – such as panic-buying toilet roll and other supplies as happened in the early stages in the UK. This, they say, is not the same as panic.
The scientists argue that this is entirely appropriate early in such a crisis because it means people then become able to cope with the crisis.
However, the alternative reaction is denial or even anger and in the early Phases inaction as a response is counter-productive since people don’t take precautions. Examples include those, such as in Michigan, USA, who protested against lockdown measures.
Michigan epidemiologist Sandro Gales has identified five Stages of reaction to a major disaster: starting with self-preservation, moving through group preservation to blame setting, justice seeking and finally “renormalizing” which can mean adaptation to the threat.
These are similar to the five Stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance as identified by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross who also found that a lot of people get stuck in one phase or another and some take a long time to reach acceptance of the situation.
How well a country copes with a crisis, therefore, depends on how its leaders manage both individual perceptions as well as vested interests such as those of business. This is improved by radical transparency when they don’t know the answers but their honesty about what they do and don’t know and what they are doing will help reassure everyone that they are doing their best.
The fact is they will make mistakes but so long as they make the best possible decisions based on expert advice and the information available then they will convey confidence that they will eventually find a way through the crisis. There is no doubt that many with the benefit of hindsight will seek to hold them to account but there are lots of armchair warriors and very few leaders who stand up and take difficult decisions.
Understanding and managing the different Phases of a Pandemic and the different stages of reaction to a crisis are particularly important as they inform what messages to convey, where people may misunderstand messages such as when restrictions, as now, are being eased while at the same time there is a need for maintain a level of vigilance.
Perhaps we shall know the Pandemic is over in UK when we see the House of Commons packed with MPs given that so many are classified as vulnerable being over 70.
Menu