The first task is to get manpower and money to hospitals.China drafted in 40,000 health workers to Hubei province.Britain may bring medics out of retirement.This week the World Bank made $12bn and the IMF $50bn available for covid-19.The Global Fund, which fights diseases like malaria and TB, said countries can switch grants.In America Congress is allocating $8.3bn of funding.The country has some of the world’s most advanced hospitals, but its fragmented health system has little spare capacity.Much more money will be needed.Just as important is to slow the spread of the disease by getting patients to come forward for testing when outbreaks are small and possible to contain.They may be deterred in many countries, including much of America, where 28m people are without health coverage and many more have to pay for a large slug of their own treatment.People also need to isolate themselves if they have mild symptoms, as about 80% of them will.Here sick pay matters, because many people cannot afford to miss work.In America a quarter of employees have no access to paid sick leave and only scattered states and cities offer sickness benefits.Often the self-employed, a fifth of Italy’s workforce, do not qualify.One study found that, in epidemics, guaranteed sick pay cuts the spread of flu in America by 40%.
