Citation

Harweg T, Bachmann D, Weichert F. J. Public Health (Heidelberg) 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10389-021-01489-y

PMID

33824850

Abstract

PURPOSE: With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spreading across the world, protective measures for containing the virus are essential, especially as long as no vaccine or effective treatment is available. One important measure is the so-called physical distancing or social distancing.

METHODS: In this paper, we propose an agent-based numerical simulation of pedestrian dynamics in order to assess the behavior of pedestrians in public places in the context of contact transmission of infectious diseases like COVID-19, and to gather insights about exposure times and the overall effectiveness of distancing measures.

RESULTS: To abide by the minimum distance of 1.5 m stipulated by the German government at an infection rate of 2%, our simulation results suggest that a density of one person per 16m(2) or below is sufficient.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study give insight into how physical distancing as a protective measure can be carried out more efficiently to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Language: en

Keywords

Numerical simulation; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Agent-based simulation; Pedestrian dynamics; Social-force model