Prospects and limits of SIR-type Mathematical Models to Capture the COVID-19 Pandemic

Barwolff, Gunter

For the description of a pandemic mathematical models could be interesting. Both for physicians and politicians as a base for decisions to treat the disease. The responsible estimation of parameters is a main issue of mathematical pandemic models. Especially a good choice of $\beta$ as the number of others that one infected person encounters per unit time (per day) influences the adequateness of the results of the model. For the actual COVID-19 pandemic some aspects of the parameter choice will be discussed. Because of the incompatibility of the data of the Johns-Hopkins-University to the data of the German Robert-Koch-Institut we use the COVID-19 data of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as a base for the parameter estimation. Two different mathematical methods for the data analysis will be discussed in this paper and possible sources of trouble will be shown. As example of the parameter choice serve the data of the USA and the UK. The resulting parameters will be used estimated and used in W.\,O. Kermack and A.\,G. McKendrick's SIR model. Strategies for the commencing and ending of social and economic shutdown measures are discussed. The numerical solution of the ordinary differential equation system of the modified SIR model is being done with a Runge-Kutta integration method of fourth order. At the end the applicability of the SIR model could be shown essentially. Suggestions about appropriate points in time at which to commence with lockdown measures based on the acceleration rate of infections conclude the paper.