A state-of-the-art Epidemic Indoors Intervention Simulator
During the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers and managers of indoor spaces were tasked to take fast decisions to mitigate its transmission, often without any scientific input available.
At Cardiff University, we have been developing an indoor epidemic simulator to inform and mitigate future epidemic outbreaks. Unlike existing solutions, our simulator integrates detailed indoor geometry, architectural design and movement of individuals, along with novel mathematical models of virus spread and flow. The architectural design is undertaken through Topologic, a well-established architectural digital design software developed at the Cardiff School of Architecture. The simulator will provide the infection risk of an infectious disease for a group of people in an indoor space with a given schedule.
The simulator is currently being converted to a user-friendly web app for policymakers, architects, and space managers so that they will be able to easily assess an indoor space and formulate recommendations for mitigating the infection risk for a viral disease. In collaboration with the Welsh government, we would like prioritise scenarios with higher epidemic risks, such as care homes (see Figure 1 below) and schools. Professional users will also be able to upload custom-made (CAD) files for indoor spaces of their choice and customised schedules for individuals moving in the space. The app will also be made available to the public.
The project is led by Cardiff Mathematics (Dr Katerina Kaouri, Dr Thomas Woolley - joint PIs), in close collaboration with Prof Wassim Jabi (coI) and funded by a UKRI Impact Acceleration Grant (project end: 31/07/2024). Dr Yidan Xue has joined the project as a Postdoctoral Research fellow. It builds on a Welsh Government Ser Cymru project awarded to Kaouri (2020-21) and the subsequent work of Kaouri and Woolley with the Technical Advisory Group during the pandemic.
