No abstract

To date, the only effective means to respond to the spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic are non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), which entail policies to reduce social activity and mobility restrictions. Quantifying their effect is difficult, but it is key to reducing their social and economic consequences. Here, we introduce a meta-population model based on temporal networks, calibrated on the COVID-19 outbreak data in Italy and applied to evaluate the outcomes of these two types of NPIs. Our approach combines the advantages of granular spatial modelling of meta-population models with the ability to realistically describe social contacts via activity-driven networks. We focus on disentangling the impact of these two different types of NPIs: those aiming at reducing individuals’ social activity, for instance through lockdowns, and those that enforce mobility restrictions. We provide a valuable framework to assess the effectiveness of different NPIs, varying with respect to their timing and severity. Results suggest that the effects of mobility restrictions largely depend on the possibility of implementing timely NPIs in the early phases of the outbreak, whereas activity reduction policies should be prioritized afterwards.

Amid the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic, public health authorities and the general population are striving to achieve a balance between safety and normalcy. Ever changing conditions call for the development of theory and simulation tools to finely describe multiple strata of society while supporting the evaluation of “what‐if” scenarios. Particularly important is to assess the effectiveness of potential testing approaches and vaccination strategies. Here, an agent‐based modeling platform is proposed to simulate the spreading of COVID‐19 in small towns and cities, with a single‐individual resolution. The platform is validated on real data from New Rochelle, NY—one of the first outbreaks registered in the United States. Supported by expert knowledge and informed by reported data, the model incorporates detailed elements of the spreading within a statistically realistic population. Along with pertinent functionality such as testing, treatment, and vaccination options, the model accounts for the burden of other illnesses with symptoms similar to COVID‐19. Unique to the model is the possibility to explore different testing approaches—in hospitals or drive‐through facilities—and vaccination strategies that could prioritize vulnerable groups. Decision‐making by public authorities could benefit from the model, for its fine‐grain resolution, open‐source nature, and wide range of features.

Network theory has greatly contributed to an improved understanding of epidemic processes, offering an empowering framework for the analysis of real-world data, prediction of disease outbreaks, and formulation of containment strategies. However, the current state of knowledge largely relies on time-invariant networks, which are not adequate to capture several key features of a number of infectious diseases. Activity driven networks (ADNs) constitute a promising modelling framework to describe epidemic spreading over time varying networks, but a number of technical and theoretical gaps remain open. Here, we lay the foundations for a novel theory to model general epidemic spreading processes over time-varying, ADNs. Our theory derives a continuous-time model, based on ordinary differential equations (ODEs), which can reproduce the dynamics of any discrete-time epidemic model evolving over an ADN. A rigorous, formal framework is developed, so that a general epidemic process can be systematically mapped, at first, on a Markov jump process, and then, in the thermodynamic limit, on a system of ODEs. The obtained ODEs can be integrated to simulate the system dynamics, instead of using computationally intensive Monte Carlo simulations. An array of mathematical tools for the analysis of the proposed model is offered, together with techniques to approximate and predict the dynamics of the epidemic spreading, from its inception to the endemic equilibrium. The theoretical framework is illustrated step-by-step through the analysis of a susceptible–infected–susceptible process. Once the framework is established, applications to more complex epidemic models are presented, along with numerical results that corroborate the validity of our approach. Our framework is expected to find application in the study of a number of critical phenomena, including behavioural changes due to the infection, unconscious spread of the disease by exposed individuals, or the removal of nodes from the network of contacts.