"Traditional epidemiology models generally don't allow for interactions between peoples' economic decisions and rates of infection, limiting their usefulness for forecasting and policy analysis. This column introduces a framework for combining economics and epidemiology in a way that allows for these interactions and uses the model to address the challenge of designing and implementing policies that improve the trade-off between economic and health outcomes during an epidemic. The results suggest that testing and quarantine policies should play a central role in minimising the social costs of the COVID-19 crisis. "

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