Merits and Limitations of Mathematical Modeling and Computational Simulations in Mitigation of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Mathematical models have assisted in describing the transmission and propagation dynamics of various viral diseases like MERS, measles, SARS, and Influenza; while the advanced computational technique is utilized in the epidemiology of viral diseases to examine and estimate the influences of interventions and vaccinations. In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 as a global pandemic and the rate of morbidity and mortality triggers unprecedented public health crises throughout the world. The mathematical models can assist in improving the interventions, key transmission parameters, public health agencies, and countermeasures to mitigate this pandemic. Besides, the mathematical models were also used to examine the characteristics of epidemiological and the understanding of the complex transmission mechanism. Our literature study found that there were still some challenges in mathematical modeling for the case of ecology, genetics, microbiology, and pathology pose; also, some aspects like political and societal issues and cultural and ethical standards are hard to be characterized. Here, the recent mathematical models about COVID-19 and their prominent features, applications, limitations, and future perspective are discussed and reviewed. This review can assist in further improvement of mathematical models that will consider the current challenges of viral diseases.