Peltzman effect and resurgence of COVID-19 in India

• 作者: Simi Thankappan Sherin Nedumpillil
• 来源期刊: 亚太热带医药杂志（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2021,（5）
• 所属期刊栏目: Perspective
• 页码范围: 193-194
• 页数: 2页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.4103/1995-7645.315896

摘要

With a daily rise of over 400000 cases, the deadly COVID-19 wave has gripped India with grim milestones. India's test positivity rate (TPR) was 16％ with 1356133 tests[1,2] (Figure 1). The number is still steeply climbing and has burdened the already overwhelmed health system. A frightening situation of lack of availability of hospital beds and critical care units has been witnessed in several states in recent days. The two reasons that are thought to propagate the resurgence of cases are "risk compensation" and the emergence of mutant SARS COV-2 strains (including recently named double mutant, B.1.617)[3-6]. Risk compensation was first described by University of Chicago economist Sam Peltzman in 1975[3]. The phenomenon, where increased safety regulations cause behavioral modification of the public to partake in riskier endeavors as they have a false perception of safety, later came to be known widely as the Peltzman effect[3]. Though intended as a means to explain mass behavior in an economic or social context, the Peltzman effect applies to the current resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.