Fractional–Order Modeling and Control of COVID-19 with Shedding Effect

Abstract

A fractional order COVID-19 model consisting of six compartments in Caputo sense is constructed. The indirect transmission of the virus through susceptible populations by the shedding effect is studied. Equilibrium solutions are calculated, and basic reproduction ratio (that depends both on direct and indirect mode of transmission), existence and uniqueness, as well as stability analysis of the solution of the model, are studied. The paper studies the effect of optimal control policy applied to shedding effect. The control is the observation of standard hygiene practices and chemical disinfectants in public spaces. Numerical simulations are carried out to support the analytic result and to show the significance of the fractional order from the biological viewpoint.