Network-based uncertainty quantification for mathematical models in epidemiology

After the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in the end of January 2020 in Germany, a large number of individuals suffered from severe symptoms and eventually needed intensive care in hospitals. Due to the rapid spread of the disease, the number of deceased individuals increased as well, which is a motivation to prevent as many new infections as possible. Therefore, the knowledge about the current evolution of the virus spread is crucial to predict its future behavior and to react with suitable interventions. In this paper, the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany is forecasted by a network-based inference method, in which the interactions of individuals are taken into account using a contact matrix. Then the results are compared to the predictions without considering a contact matrix as well as to the logistic regression, which shows the advantage of incorporating the contact matrix. Furthermore, the basic reproduction number of the pandemic in Germany using a neural network approach is estimated and used for further predictions of the evolution of COVID-19 in Germany. In order to mathematically model the different compartments of the population in the considered regions, the classical SIR model is employed. In this work, we deploy the LASSO (Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator) for the unknown parameter estimation. Furthermore, we calculate and illustrate the MAPE (Mean Absolute Percentage Error) of the estimations to show the accuracy of the predictions. The results include model parameter estimation and model validation, as well as the outbreak forecasting using network-informed algorithms. Our findings show that the network-inference based approach outperforms the logistic regression as well as the neural network approach and the SIR model calibration without a contact network. Furthermore according to the results, the network-inference based approach is particularly suitable for short-to mid-term predictions, even when there is not much information about the new disease. Moreover, the predictions based on the estimation of the reproduction number in Germany can yield more reliable results with increasing the availability of data, but could not outperform the network-inference based algorithm.

Automated summary

This study forecasts the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany using a network-based inference method and compares it with other approaches. The results show that the network-inference based approach outperforms other methods in short-to mid-term predictions, even with limited information about the new disease. Furthermore, predictions based on the estimation of the reproduction number in Germany can yield more reliable results with increasing data availability, but still cannot surpass the network-inference based algorithm.