Data driven inference of the reproduction number (R0) for COVID-19 before and after interventions for 51 European countries

Karnakov, P.; Arampatzis, G.; Kicic, I.; Wermelinger, F.; Wälchli, D.; Papadimitriou, C.; Koumoutsakos, P.

The reproduction number (R0) is broadly considered as a key indicator for the spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimation of its value with respect to the key threshold of 1.0 is a measure of the need, and eventually effectiveness, of interventions imposed in various countries. Here we present an online tool for the data driven inference and quantification of uncertainties for R0 as well as the time points of interventions for 51 European countries. The study relies on the Bayesian calibration of the simple and well established SIR model with data from reported daily infections. The model is able to fit the data for most countries without individual tuning of parameters. We deploy an open source Bayesian inference framework and efficient sampling algorithms to present a publicly available GUI (https://www.cse-lab.ethz.ch/coronavirus/) that allows the user to assess custom data and compare predictions for pairs of European countries. The results provide a ranking based on the rate of the disease's spread suggesting a metric for the effectiveness of social distancing measures. They also serve to demonstrate how geographic proximity and related times of interventions can lead to similarities in the progression of the epidemic.