Predicting Risks of a COVID-19 Outbreak by Using Outdoor Air Pollution Indicators and Population Flow with Queuing Theory

COVID-19 has been widespread in all countries since it was first discovered in December 2019. The high infectivity of COVID-19 is primarily transmitted between people via respiratory droplets on contact routes, which makes it more difficult to prevent it. Air quality has been considered to be highly...

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Main Authors: Yi-Fang Chiang, Ka-Ui Chu, Ling-Jyh Chen, Yao-Hua Ho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-10-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/10/1727
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author Yi-Fang Chiang
Ka-Ui Chu
Ling-Jyh Chen
Yao-Hua Ho
author_facet Yi-Fang Chiang
Ka-Ui Chu
Ling-Jyh Chen
Yao-Hua Ho
author_sort Yi-Fang Chiang
collection DOAJ
description COVID-19 has been widespread in all countries since it was first discovered in December 2019. The high infectivity of COVID-19 is primarily transmitted between people via respiratory droplets on contact routes, which makes it more difficult to prevent it. Air quality has been considered to be highly correlated with respiratory diseases. In addition, population movement increases contact routes, which increases the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks. For epidemic prevention, the government’s strategies are also one of the factors that affect the risk of outbreaks, including whether it is mandatory to wear masks, stay-at-home orders, or vaccination. Wearing masks can reduce the risk of droplet infection, while stay-at-home orders can reduce contact between people. In this study, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and active cases of COVID-19 will be estimated according to the population movement, outdoor air pollution, and vaccination rates. Using the estimated results, the average recovery time will be predicted by Queuing Theory. The predicted average recovery time will be brought into risk analysis to estimate the possible high-risk periods. We compare the estimated high-risk periods with epidemic-prevention measures to provide a reference to evaluate the epidemic prevention plans enforced by relevant government agencies to achieve an improved control measure over the epidemic situation.
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spelling doaj.art-666f8ad802224b1d9d9bdadec4a38b2d2023-11-23T22:52:49ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332022-10-011310172710.3390/atmos13101727Predicting Risks of a COVID-19 Outbreak by Using Outdoor Air Pollution Indicators and Population Flow with Queuing TheoryYi-Fang Chiang0Ka-Ui Chu1Ling-Jyh Chen2Yao-Hua Ho3Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, TaiwanDepartment of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, TaiwanDepartment of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, TaiwanDepartment of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, TaiwanCOVID-19 has been widespread in all countries since it was first discovered in December 2019. The high infectivity of COVID-19 is primarily transmitted between people via respiratory droplets on contact routes, which makes it more difficult to prevent it. Air quality has been considered to be highly correlated with respiratory diseases. In addition, population movement increases contact routes, which increases the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks. For epidemic prevention, the government’s strategies are also one of the factors that affect the risk of outbreaks, including whether it is mandatory to wear masks, stay-at-home orders, or vaccination. Wearing masks can reduce the risk of droplet infection, while stay-at-home orders can reduce contact between people. In this study, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and active cases of COVID-19 will be estimated according to the population movement, outdoor air pollution, and vaccination rates. Using the estimated results, the average recovery time will be predicted by Queuing Theory. The predicted average recovery time will be brought into risk analysis to estimate the possible high-risk periods. We compare the estimated high-risk periods with epidemic-prevention measures to provide a reference to evaluate the epidemic prevention plans enforced by relevant government agencies to achieve an improved control measure over the epidemic situation.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/10/1727coronavirusCOVID-19risk predictionoutbreak controlmachine learningartificial (recurrent) neural network
spellingShingle Yi-Fang Chiang
Ka-Ui Chu
Ling-Jyh Chen
Yao-Hua Ho
Predicting Risks of a COVID-19 Outbreak by Using Outdoor Air Pollution Indicators and Population Flow with Queuing Theory
Atmosphere
coronavirus
COVID-19
risk prediction
outbreak control
machine learning
artificial (recurrent) neural network
title Predicting Risks of a COVID-19 Outbreak by Using Outdoor Air Pollution Indicators and Population Flow with Queuing Theory
title_full Predicting Risks of a COVID-19 Outbreak by Using Outdoor Air Pollution Indicators and Population Flow with Queuing Theory
title_fullStr Predicting Risks of a COVID-19 Outbreak by Using Outdoor Air Pollution Indicators and Population Flow with Queuing Theory
title_full_unstemmed Predicting Risks of a COVID-19 Outbreak by Using Outdoor Air Pollution Indicators and Population Flow with Queuing Theory
title_short Predicting Risks of a COVID-19 Outbreak by Using Outdoor Air Pollution Indicators and Population Flow with Queuing Theory
title_sort predicting risks of a covid 19 outbreak by using outdoor air pollution indicators and population flow with queuing theory
topic coronavirus
COVID-19
risk prediction
outbreak control
machine learning
artificial (recurrent) neural network
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/10/1727
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