Physics and COVID-19

Global situation in 2020/03/24 Source: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Like meteorologists tracking a hurricane, physicists are racing to predict the impact of COVID-19 outbreaks in order to advise policy makers.

"Vespignani points to several approaches developed in physics that are relevant for describing disease spread. One example is the mathematical model that describes diffusion-controlled reactions, in which chemicals spread in a liquid and react upon contact. Another powerful tool is network theory, which represents individuals or clusters of individuals as interconnected nodes, much like train stations on a transit map. The theory can forecast the rate at which an infection spreads through a population based on patterns of human interaction, such as the way people cluster at specific times during the daily commute."

Source: https://physics.aps.org/articles/v13/43