Abstract
As of 21st May 2020, there have been 4.89M confirmed cases worldwide and over 323,000 deaths of people who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The outbreak of COVID-19, has not only caused widespread morbidity and mortality, but has also led to a catastrophic breakdown in the global economy and unprecedented social disruption. To lessen the global health consequences of COVID-19, sweeping COVID-19 lockdown and quarantine measures have been imposed within many nations. These measures have significantly impacted the world’s economy and in many cases has led to the loss of livelihood. Mathematical modeling of pandemics is of critical importance to understand the unfolding of transmission events and to formulate control measures. In this research letter, we have introduced a novel approach to forecasting epidemics like COVID-19. The proposed mathematical model stems from the fundamental principles of fluid dynamics, and can be utilized to make projections of the number of infected people. This unique mathematical model can be beneficial for predicting and designing potential strategies to mitigate the spread and impact of pandemics.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
The financial assistance of Qatar Foundation, the Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP10-0104-170104) and Texas Engineering Experimental Station are gratefully acknowledged by the authors. Dr. Harris Sajjad Rabbani would like to acknowledge Dr. Nida Jaleel for the insightful discuss on the topic.
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Data Availability
The data presented in this manuscript will be available freely via sending a request to the corresponding author.