Beck, Matthias and Sheppard, Gail (2023) Running red lights: Risk recognition versus follow‐up implementation in the case of Germany's pandemic preparation. Risk Analysis, 43 (11). pp. 2151-2157. ISSN 0272-4332

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Abstract

The discrepancy between formal arrangements to ensure health security, as assessed in the Global Health Security Index, and COVID-19 outcomes points to a broader problem where formal risk recognition is de-coupled from potentially resource-intensive follow-up policy implementation. Germany is an extreme example of this. Pre-COVID-19, Germany’s Federal Office of Civilian Protection conducted two pandemic preparation exercises based on scenarios which closely mirrored the current COVID-19 pandemic: (a) a multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency crisis management exercise assuming a global influenza pandemic and (b) a joint federal and expert-agency based risk-analysis assuming the outbreak of a modified severe acute respiratory symptom virus. While informing legal and institutional reforms, key recommendations on storing personal protective equipment (PPE) and disinfectants for front-line staff were subsequently ignored. PPE shortages initially put staff at risk, led to export restrictions on PPE, and later on hampered the country’s ability to address a second wave of the pandemic. This short paper calls for a fuller exploration of factors which hinder ‘‘implementation post-cognition.’’

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	COVID-19; disaster preparedness; risk analysis;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Business
Item ID:	18791
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.14103
Depositing User:	Gail Sheppard
Date Deposited:	22 Aug 2024 09:30
Journal or Publication Title:	Risk Analysis
Publisher:	John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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