The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security will host a daylong tabletop exercise Tuesday, May 15, to illustrate high-level strategic decisions and policies that the United States and the world will need to pursue in order to prevent a pandemic or diminish its consequences should prevention fail.
The Clade X pandemic tabletop exercise will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Washington, D.C. The exercise will simulate a series of National Security Council-convened meetings of 10 government leaders, played by prominent individuals who previously occupied senior leadership positions in the government.
Throughout the exercise, the center will highlight important issues from recent real events that remain unresolved but could be solved with sufficient political will and attention. Lessons learned will be distilled and shared broadly following the exercise.
"We recognize that effective policies are born of deeply informed answers to the right what-if questions," said Eric Toner, a senior associate at the center and Clade X project lead. "That's our goal for Clade X, and why an exercise of this kind is such a valuable and compelling way to help leaders gain a fuller understanding of pandemics and the decisions needed to prevent, prepare for, and respond to biological threats."
The event will be livestreamed on the center's Facebook page.
