Modeling and Control of COVID-19 Transmission from a Perspective of Polymerization Reaction Dynamics

Due to the serious economic losses and deaths caused by COVID-19, the modeling and control of such a pandemic has become a hot research topic. This paper finds an analogy between a polymerization reaction and COVID-19 transmission dynamics, which will provide a novel perspective to optimal control measures. Susceptible individuals, exposed people, infected cases, recovered population, and the dead can be assumed to be specific molecules in the polymerization system. In this paper, a hypothetical polymerization reactor is constructed to describe the transmission of an epidemic, and its kinetic parameters are regressed by the least-squares method. The intensity of social distancing u is considered to the mixing degree of the reaction system, and contact tracing and isolation ρ can be regarded as an external circulation in the main reactor to reduce the concentration of active species. Through these analogies, this model can predict the peak infection, deaths, and end time of the epidemic under different control measures to support the decision-making process. Without any measures (u = 1.0 and ρ = 0), more than 90% of the population would be infected. It takes several years to complete herd immunity by nonpharmacological intervention when the proportion of deaths is limited to less than 5%. However, vaccination can reduce the time to tens to hundreds of days, which is related to the maximum number of vaccines per day.