There's a long war ahead and our Covid-19 response must adapt

This is a war. And in war, strategy is important. Learning from experience from around the world, we recognize a third phase of the Covid-19 response: suppression of episodic outbreaks. In this new third phase, extensive testing and alert clinical systems can identify cases and clusters promptly, intervene extensively and suppress spread before widespread societal harms occur. There are five priorities essential for successful implementation of the third phase of this strategy: 1) Extensive testing and contact tracing, 2) Prepare for health care to surge safely, 3) Preserve health and routine health care functions, 4) Learn intensively, and 5) Adapt to a new normal. The Covid-19 pandemic will change our world forever. Until it is controlled, we will all need to change how we wash our hands, cover our coughs, greet others and how close we come to others. We will rethink the need for meetings and conferences. We will need broadband for all as a public utility like mail or water. We will need to support the vulnerable, even if only because their illness can risk our health.

[Dr. Tom Frieden is the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and former commissioner of the New York City Health Department. He is currently president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a global non-profit initiative funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and part of the global non-profit Vital Strategies.]