Economic irreversibility in pandemic control processes: Rigorous modeling of delayed countermeasures and consequential cost increases

After the first lockdown in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, many countries faced difficulties in balancing infection control with economics. Due to limited prior knowledge, economists began researching this issue using cost-benefit analysis and found that infection control processes significantly affect economic efficiency. A UK study used economic parameters to numerically demonstrate an optimal balance in the process, including keeping the infected population stationary. However, universall...