Optimal Control of an Epidemic through Social Distancing
33 Pages Posted: 4 Jun 2020 Last revised: 25 Jul 2022
Date Written: July 28, 2020
Abstract
We analyze how to optimally engage in social distancing (SD) in order to minimize the spread of an infectious disease. We identify conditions under which the optimal policy is single-peaked, i.e., first engages in increasingly more social distancing and subsequently decreases its intensity. We show that the optimal policy might delay measures that decrease the transmission rate substantially to create "herd-immunity'' and that engaging in social distancing sub-optimally early can increase the number of fatalities. Finally, we find that optimal social distancing can be an effective measure in substantially reducing the death rate of a disease.
Note:
Funding Information: Philipp Strack was supported by a Sloan fellowship.
Conflict of Interests: MISSING
Keywords: Social Distancing, SIR model, Time-Optimal Control of an Epidemic
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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
- Citations
- Citation Indexes: 4
- Policy Citations: 2
- Usage
- Abstract Views: 1523
- Downloads: 390
- Captures
- Readers: 1
- Mentions
- News Mentions: 1