02048cas a2200301 a 4500 AALejournalIMF021712 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781513582474 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Fotiou, Alexandra. Smart Containment : Lessons from Countries with Past Experience / Alexandra Fotiou, Andresa Lagerborg. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2021. 1 online resource (54 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Following the Great Lockdown in 2020, it is important to take stock of lessons learned. How effective have different containment measures been in slowing the spread of Covid-19? Have containment measures been costly in terms of economic growth, fiscal balances, and accumulated debt? This paper finds that countries with previous SARS experience acted fast and "smart", and were able to contain the virus by relying mainly on public health measures - testing, contact tracing, and public information campaigns - rather than stay-at-home requirements. Using past coronavirus outbreaks as an instrumental variable, we show that countries with past experience were able to contain the virus in a smart way, reducing transmission and deaths while also experiencing higher economic growth in 2020. Mode of access: Internet Foreign Exchange imf Health Behavior imf Informal Economy imf Underground Econom imf Lagerborg, Andresa. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2021/099 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2021/099/001.2021.issue-099-en.xml IMF e-Library