A Laissez-Faire Strategy Marked by Blinkers to Fulfill Established Pandemic Goals-The Case of Sweden.

OBJECTIVES: To examine (i.e., contextualize and visualize) the consequences of a laissez-faire strategy characterized by blinkers to fulfill established pandemic goals. The aim is to shed light on the implementation of pandemic measures based on post hoc (after-the-fact) reactions and actions instead of pre hoc ones (in advance). STUDY DESIGN: This study is based on weekly updates of pandemic variables (i.e., cases, tests, percentage of positive tests, hospitalizations, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions, deceased, and 7- and 14-day incidence) in Sweden from the start of the pandemic in March 2020 until March 2021. METHOD: This study reports the empirical findings based on Swedish pandemic variables during 52 consecutive weeks, related to the pandemic, all of which has been divided into three time periods to separate the 1st and 2nd waves of the pandemic, and considers them all together as one time period. RESULTS: The findings illustrate the implementation of pandemic measures and the subsequent consequences of a laissez-faire strategy characterized by blinkers. People become diseased and then deceased. This reveals strong associations between the assessed pandemic variables and its subsequent consequences on morbidity and mortality, based on post hoc reactions and actions. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a pandemic strategy should react and act pre hoc, and to take the safe with the unsafe. Governments and public health agencies should take into account the inevitable associations between pandemic variables. Intertwined pre hoc measures of prevention, enforcement, and monitoring should be implemented in society to avoid the implementation of a laissez-faire strategy based on post hoc reactions and actions.

Predictability of COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality based on model estimations to establish proactive protocols of countermeasures.

The COVID-19 pandemic (SARS-CoV-2) has revealed the need for proactive protocols to react and act, imposing preventive and restrictive countermeasures on time in any society. The extent to which confirmed cases can predict the morbidity and mortality in a society remains an unresolved issue. The research objective is therefore to test a generic model's predictability through time, based on percentage of confirmed cases on hospitalized patients, ICU patients and deceased. This study reports the explanatory and predictive ability of COVID-19-related healthcare data, such as whether there is a spread of a contagious and virulent virus in a society, and if so, whether the morbidity and mortality can be estimated in advance in the population. The model estimations stress the implementation of a pandemic strategy containing a proactive protocol entailing what, when, where, who and how countermeasures should be in place when a virulent virus (e.g. SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS) or pandemic strikes next time. Several lessons for the future can be learnt from the reported model estimations. One lesson is that COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality in a population is indeed predictable. Another lesson is to have a proactive protocol of countermeasures in place.

Assessing the future direction of sustainable development in public hospitals: Time-horizon, path and action.

PURPOSE: To assess the future direction of sustainable development in public hospitals, focusing on their short- versus long-term time horizons, top-down versus bottom-up paths, and intra-organizational versus inter-organizational actions. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The selection of significant health care organizations was based on judgmental sampling. This study applied an inductive approach. The interviewees were identified according to their knowledge of the future direction of their organizations' sustainable development. FINDINGS: The sustainable development of the studied public hospitals is aimed at the synchronization of actions with other hospitals in the public healthcare system. The public hospitals studied differ in their interconnected elements of time (short- versus long-time horizons), paths (top-down versus bottom-up) and specific actions (intra-organizational versus inter-organizational). RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/: implications Offers insights into how to assess the direction of sustainable development in public hospitals. We stress the importance of time, path and action in conjunction. Furthermore, this study provides a three-dimensional framework to assess the future direction of sustainable development in organizations as well as in industries. Both the former and latter characteristics are shaped by the elements of time, path and action. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: Provides a three-dimensional framework of criteria to assess the direction of sustainable development in organizations. The assessment criteria may be used by organizations to assess the direction of other organizations in their industry. Industry associations or authorities may look into the status and future direction of sustainable development in industries or sectors as a whole. The assessment criteria provide an opportunity and foundation to benchmark against others in the same industry and insights to face pandemic as Covid-19. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: First study to consider a three-dimensional framework based on time, path and action to assess the future direction of sustainable development in an organization.