Airmic warns of COVID’s ‘looping nature’

The emergence of the Omicron variant has demonstrated the looping nature of this pandemic, according to a new publication by Airmic in partnership with Control Risks.

There will be ever newer variants of Covid-19, or even new pandemics, as human populations encroach further on other animal habitats. All this accentuates the need for risk professionals to look beyond the present Covid-19 crisis.

The report is based on a survey of 118 Airmic members conducted from 1 to 27 November 2021 and makes the case for risk professionals and their organisations to learn the lessons, boost preparedness and build resilience, in order to steer through the looping nature of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Organisations need to be more attuned to the emerging risks around them. Because of the growing interconnectivity of risks in the Covid age –with supply chain woes in the UK being a prime example – organisations need to make better use of horizon scanning tools and techniques.

But before building organisational resilience, organisations must first learn the lessons and boost preparedness. If the correct lessons are not captured and learnt, then organisations cannot prepare for the next wave of the pandemic or for other such crises.

And if they are found wanting in preparedness, they will not find themselves becoming the kind of resilient organisation they need to be in this age of heightened uncertainty and volatility, the report concludes.