What are the underlying transmission patterns of COVID-19 outbreak? An age-specific social contact characterization.

ABSTRACT:

Background

COVID-19 has spread to 6 continents. Now is opportune to gain a deeper understanding of what may have happened. The findings can help inform mitigation strategies in the disease-affected countries.

Methods

In this work, we examine an essential factor that characterizes the disease transmission patterns: the interactions among people. We develop a computational model to reveal the interactions in terms of the social contact patterns among the population of different age-groups. We divide a city's population into seven age-groups: 0-6 years old (children); 7-14 (primary and junior high school students); 15-17 (high school students); 18-22 (university students); 23-44 (young/middle-aged people); 45-64 years old (middle-aged/elderly people); and 65 or above (elderly p

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7165295 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature