A couple of years ago I developed a set of materials regarding business contingency planning for a flu pandemic. The concern back then was Avian Flu (called H5N1 by the in crowd). Today's swine flu (A/H1N1) is a different bug with similar implications. Here are a few highlights:
- The riskiest bugs hit young healthy people worst, rather than children and the elderly. This has huge workforce implications.
- The macroeconomic effects would be like a severe recession, along the lines of 1980-82. The flu's impacts in the midst of a recession would be lessened, but still additive to the pre-existing recession.
- Businesses should not over-react, but there are a set of reasonably easy steps that can be taken now that will be tremendously useful if the epidemic worsens significantly.
Call me if you'd like a presentation on this subject.