Coming out of the pandemic: What have we learned and what should we learn?

In this editorial, we reviewed the articles collected in the special issue “Economics of Pandemic Disease” along with other relevant literature. We found that the pandemic has had a devastating impact on the economy as a whole and on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and private firms in particular, which may have deepened the economic inequality and impeded poverty reduction in China. The pandemic also resulted in substantial damage to the mental health and well-being of the Chinese population, with a disproportionate impact on minorities, including the female and the illiterate. We also examined the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of China's policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, which suggested that China's zero-Covid policy succeeded in stabilizing its economy and maintaining a safe environment in earlier phases of the pandemic, but hardly achieved a balance between disease control and economic growth in the later stage when less fatal but more transmissive coronavirus variants emerged. Lastly, we discussed policy options that China may take to protect the health of its people and avoid a potentially substantial loss of lives during the transition toward the post-pandemic new normal, which include prioritizing the timely administration of effective vaccines among the elderly and vulnerable populations, improving public communications regarding when and how to seek medical help, and strengthening the surge capacity of the healthcare systems, especially in less developed regions.