A mathematical reason to wear a face mask during a COVID-19 like pandemic

Tchilabalo Abozou KPANZOU; Edoh KATCHEKPELE; Essomanda  TCHANDAO

doi:10.26637/mjm1103/005

Abstract

The new coronavirus called COVID-19 started spreading in China since the end of 2019, and shortly, it became a serious matter over the entire world, infecting millions of people and killing many of them. That virus lead researchers to looking for ways to eradicate it, the first thing being to prevent people from getting contaminated. One way someone can protect himself and others is to wear a face mask as recommended by the World Health Organization. In this paper, we give a simple mathematical model showing why everyone should wear a face mask during a COVID-19 like pandemic. In order to illustrate the situation, we carry out a short simulation work, showing how various populations can be affected. We also show the number of contamination rounds needed to contaminate the whole population if nothing is done to stop the contamination process.

Keywords:

Coronavirus, face mask, mathematical model, epidemiology, simulation

Mathematics Subject Classification:

92C99, 03C65

Authors Imprint References Funding Related Articles Downloads

Tchilabalo Abozou KPANZOU Laboratoire de Modélisation Mathématique et d’Analyse Statistique Décisionnelle (LaMMASD), Département de Mathématiques, Université de Kara, Togo. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3921-3962
Edoh KATCHEKPELE Laboratoire de Modélisation Mathématique et d’Analyse Statistique Décisionnelle (LaMMASD), Département de Mathématiques, Université de Kara, Togo. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9029-6420
Essomanda TCHANDAO Laboratoire de Modélisation Mathématique et d’Analyse Statistique Décisionnelle (LaMMASD), Département de Mathématiques, Université de Kara, Togo.

Pages: 286-293
Date Published: 01-07-2023
Vol. 11 No. 03 (2023): Malaya Journal of Matematik (MJM)

J. DHAENE, D. LINDERS AND H. HANBAlI, Wearing a face mask: the new dress code? COVID-19 Education and Research Resources, Society of Actuaries, April, 29, 2020.

https://www.soa.org/sections/education-research/covid-19-resources/.

N. Hritonenko, C. Satsky and Y. Yatsenko, Integral Model of COVID-19 Spread and Mitigation in UK: Identification of Transmission Rate, Math. Model. Anal., 573-589. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/mma.2022.15708

L. Li, Z. Yang, Z. Dang, C. Meng, J. Huang, H. Meng, D. Wang, G. Chen, J. Zhang, H. Peng and Y. SHAO, Propagation analysis and prediction of the COVID-19, Infect. Dis. Model., 5(2020), 282-292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idm.2020.03.002

Y. LIU AND J. Rocklöv, The reproductive number of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is far higher compared to the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 virus, J. Travel Med., (2021), 1-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taab124

K. Mizumoto And G. Chowell, Transmission potential of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) onboard the diamond Princess Cruises Ship, Infect. Dis. Model., 5(2020), 264-270. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idm.2020.02.003

J. RIOU AND C. L. THAUs, Pattern of early human-to-human transmission of Wuhan 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Euro Surveillance, 25(4)(2020). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.4.2000058

Roy and Bhattacharya, Statistics of Extremes: Theory and Applications, Wiley, (2020).

Y. Shao And J. Wu, IDM editorial statement on the 2019-nCoV, Infect. Dis. Model., 5(2020), 233-234. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idm.2020.01.003

UNSW NewSRoom. What we know about the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/what-we-know-about-sars-cov-2-delta-variant.