• The containment and treatment of infectious diseases like Covid-19 are highly dependent on individual decision-making.
• Individuals are not always rational and will balance the perceived benefits of making contact against the perceived cost of the disease.
• The most effective response to outbreaks, such as Coronavirus, will take these behavioural insights, including the impact of panic on individual decision-making, into account.

Infectious diseases have shaped economics for centuries – think about the Black Death, plague, cholera, Spanish flu and SARS. The new coronavirus (Covid-19) will most probably be added to this list and become part of our collective memory as an event that shaped societies and economies.