Can age-based restrictions replace horizontal lockdowns?

Abstract

During a pandemic, such as the recent COVID-19 health crisis, policymakers are confronted with the decision of implementing effective, yet socioeconomically detrimental measures, such as horizontal lockdowns, which encompass school and workplace closures, physical distancing, and other similar measures. Age-based restrictions have been discussed as a possible alternative to horizontal restrictions. Considering the above statement, we propose a novel age-structured SVeaiR epidemiological model, along with a scheme for the comparison of certain epidemiological strategies. We study the global stability of the model and put the scheme to the test, in order to compare the effectiveness of age-based and horizontal restrictions.

Vasilis Tsilidis

PhD Student

My research interests include Mathematical Biology, Dynamical Systems and Machine Learning.