Control of COVID-19 dynamics through a fractional-order model

We investigate, through a fractional mathematical model, the effects of physical distance on the SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission. Two controls are considered in our model for eradication of the spread of COVID-19: media education, through campaigns explaining the importance of social distancing, use of face masks, etc., towards all population, while the second one is quarantine social isolation of the exposed individuals. A general fractional order optimal control problem, and associated optimality conditions of Pontryagin type, are discussed, with the goal to minimize the number of susceptible and infected while maximizing the number of recovered. The extremals are then numerically obtained. (C) 2021 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of physical distance on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 using a fractional mathematical model. Two control methods, media education and quarantine, are proposed to minimize the number of susceptible and infected individuals while maximizing the number of recovered individuals. The study discusses a general fractional order optimal control problem and numerically obtains extremals to achieve the set goals.