  Many countries are managing COVID-19 epidemic by switching between lighter
and heavier restrictions. While an open-close and a close-open cycle have
comparable socio-economic costs, the former leads to a much heavier burden in
terms of deaths and pressure on the healthcare system. An empirical
demonstration of the toll ensuing from procrastination was recently observed in
Israel, where both cycles were enforced from late August to mid-December 2020,
yielding some 1,600 deaths with open-close compared to 440 with close-open.
