Matthew Edwards
Joseph LuOn 10 March 2020, one year ago today, a group of us got together to discuss our concerns about the oncoming crisis. The UK had 373 confirmed cases and 7 deaths. The World Health Organisation had not yet declared COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. There was no doubt within the group though that, in the words of Tan Suee Chieh, “a tsunami is coming”. This was the first meeting of what became the COVID-19 Actuaries Response Group.
We resolved to bring rationality to the debate, aiming to strike a balance between alarmism and the complacency that still existed across much of industry and society. It was clear that modelling skills, medical and epidemiological insight and the ability to communicate complexity clearly would be valuable in the months ahead.
One year on and we have produced 110 bulletins on various aspects of the pandemic. Many of these were discussed in our retrospective Bulletin 100.
In this recent article, Matthew and Joseph reflect on our first year and discuss our ethos and future plans.
Stuart McDonald
Louis Rossouw
