What Is Canada’s Average Cost of Policies Preventing a Death from COVID-19?

The cost of Canada’s policies mitigating the effects of the epidemic is estimated using mainly the IMF predictions of lost output. The benefits are considered to equal the number of deaths prevented, which is estimated using mainly the results of the epidemiological model produced by the Imperial College of London. Dividing the economic costs by the number of deaths prevented produces estimates of the cost of a life saved ranging from below one million to 29 million dollars, depending on alternative assumptions about costs and benefits. The most realistic estimate puts this cost much above the most widely used economic value of life figure, which suggests the need to search for alternative, more efficient mitigation policies to deal with a second wave of infections or future pandemics caused by newly mutated viruses. The Swedish model is discussed as one such alternative