Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems

The Corona-virus outbreak is continuing to spread. By beginning of February, the number of infected people surpasses 42,000 infections, and the death toll continues to rise. As authorities and responders are struggling to contain the spread, news about mass quarantine camps or shortages of personal protective equipment threaten the health systems globally, fueled by rumors and mis-information. The disruptions of (medical) supply chains, the lack of capacity to treat patients and the spread of rumours fuel an atmosphere of uncertainty and mistrust, hampering an effective response. While traditional models of disease outbreaks largely focus on infection rates, new methods are needed to integrate behaviour from the bottom up, and integrated in macro-level models to coordinate the response world-wide.