In order to recover the damage to the economy by the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka is undergoing a gradual transition from strict lockdowns to partial lockdowns through relaxation of curfew and other moderated preventive measures. In this work, we propose an optimal lockdown relaxation strategy, which is aimed at minimizing the damage to the economy, while confining the covid-19 incidence to a level endurable by the available healthcare capacity in the country. The relevant optimization model turns out to be non-linear. We use the technique of separable programming to generate solutions and discuss the results.
An optimal lockdown relaxation strategy for minimizing the economic effects of covid-19 outbreak in Sri Lanka