The American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank,  has released a report entitled National Coronavirus Response: A Road Map to Reopening. The authors include Scott Gottlieb, MD, former head of the Food and  Drug Administration;  Caitlin Rivers, PhD, MPH, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security; Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD, who directs the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and is also a former head of the F.D.A.; Lauren Silvis, JD, a senior vice president at Tempus Inc. and previously the deputy director of the F.D.A.’s medical device center; and  Crystal Watson, DrPh, MPH, a Professor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

The Executive Summary of the Report says “it provides a road map for navigating through the current COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. It outlines specific directions for adapting our public-health strategy as we limit the epidemic spread of COVID-19 and are able to transition to new tools and approaches to prevent further spread of the disease. We outline the steps that can be taken as epidemic transmission is brought under control in different regions. These steps can transition to tools and approaches that target those with infection rather than mitigation tactics that target entire populations in regions where transmission is widespread and not controlled.”

The report says there has to be a daily reduction in COVID-19 cases. Part of the work includes ramping up testing, continuing social distancing and the use of masks, and having a robust system of contact tracing—identifying close contacts of all COVID-19 patients.

The report says confirming the efficacy of antibody tests (to determine if somebody has had COVID-19 and therefore has some immunity) is important. And once a vaccine is developed, manufacturing must be ramped up. But until that is done, there must be a plan for prioritizing who will get the antibody test and the vaccine.

Government officials need to develop plans for what the triggers are to lift restrictions.

The report notes that there will be future novel viruses, viruses never before seen, and there have to be plans to address those, which would include modernizing and fortifying the health care system and work on how to develop vaccines more quickly.

Click here for the report