A scaling investigation of pattern in the spread of COVID-19: universality in real data and a predictive analytical description.

ABSTRACT: We analyse the spread of COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel coronavirus, in various countries by proposing a model that exploits the scaling and other important concepts of statistical physics. Quite expectedly, for each of the considered countries, we observe that the spread at early times occurs exponentially fast. We show how the countries can be classified into groups, like universality classes in the literature of phase transitions, based on the rates of infections during late times. This method brings a new angle to the understanding of disease spread and is useful in obtaining a country-wise comparative picture of the effectiveness of lockdown-like social measures. Strong similarity, during both natural and lockdown periods, emerges in the spreads within countries having v

SUBMITTER: Das SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8317978 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature