Life Imitates Art

Faced with an emerging pandemic, public healthcare administrators are responsible for making decisions that may affect or even end the lives of millions of individuals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, national public health officials around the world responded in varying ways. Sweden, a country with admirable healthcare standards, chose to keep restaurants open during the times of high contagion, although it closed the popular buffets. As a consequence, Sweden experienced 9,666 more deaths from the pandemic when compared to population-based statistics from neighboring Scandinavian countries. With this in mind, healthcare administrators must recognize that many invading organisms have the potential for exponential growth, a feature of epidemics that can easily overwhelm any nation’s resources.