Describing, modelling and forecasting the spatial and temporal spread of COVID-19 -- A short review

TL;DR

This paper reviews the global spread of COVID-19 and summarizes various modeling efforts to understand and forecast its spatial and temporal dynamics, including discussions on new variants.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of modeling approaches used to analyze and predict COVID-19 spread and includes insights on emerging variants.

Findings

COVID-19 has reached nearly all communities worldwide.

Multiple modeling strategies have been employed to forecast the pandemic.

Emergence of new variants has added complexity to modeling efforts.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 started propagating worldwide in January 2020 and has now reached virtually all communities on the planet. This short review provides evidence of this spread and documents modelling efforts undertaken to understand and forecast it, including a short section about the new variants that emerged in late 2020.