Modeling growth, containment and decay of the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy

A careful inspection of the cumulative curve of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Italy and in other hard-hit countries reveals three distinct phases: i) an initial exponential growth (unconstrained phase), ii) an algebraic, power-law growth (containment phase), and iii) a relatively slow decay. We p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Capuano, Francesco|||0000-0003-0274-5260
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/358674
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/358674
https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2020.586180
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:COVID-19 (Disease)
COVID-19 (Malaltia)
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física
Descripción
Sumario:A careful inspection of the cumulative curve of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Italy and in other hard-hit countries reveals three distinct phases: i) an initial exponential growth (unconstrained phase), ii) an algebraic, power-law growth (containment phase), and iii) a relatively slow decay. We propose a parsimonious compartment model based on a time-dependent rate of depletion of the susceptible population that captures all such phases for a plausible range of model parameters. The results suggest an intimate interplay between the growth behavior, the timing and implementation of containment strategies, and the subsequent saturation of the outbreak.