Optimal Control of the Coronavirus Pandemic with Impacts of Implemented Control Measures
Keywords:
Coronavirus, Epidemiological model, Objective functional, Optimality system, Pontryagin’s maximum principle, Disease prevalenceAbstract
This paper considers the current global issue of containing the coronavirus pandemic as an optimal control problem. The goal is to determine the most advantageous levels of effectiveness of the various control and preventive measures that should be attained in order to cost effectively drive the epidemic towards eradication within a relatively short time. Thus, the problem objective functional is constructed such that it minimizes the prevalence as well as the cost of implementing the various control measures subject to a model for the disease transmission dynamics which incorporates the existing controls. The optimality system of the model is derived based on Pontryagin's maximum principle while the resulting system is solved numerically using the Runge-Kutta fourth order scheme with forward-backward sweep approach. Findings from our results show that the new cases and the prevalence of the disease can be remarkably reduced in a cost effective way, if the specified optimal levels of effectiveness of the various preventive and control measures are upheld continuously for at least a month. Moreover, the results also show that the disease can be eventually eradicated if these effectiveness levels are sustained over a reasonable length of time.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
Similar Articles
- Yusuf Olanrewaju Saheed, Mufutau Abiodun Salawu, Aderemi Babatunde Alabi, Mechanical Evaluation and Minerals Phases Identification of Fine and Coarse Okelele Block Clay Composites for Furnace Lining Application , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 4, Issue 1, February 2022
- Duke Okoro, Oghenenyerhovwo E. Ididama, Godswill O. Tesi, Jude C. Ossai, Contamination levels, occurrence pattern and associated risk of organophosphate pesticide residues in spices and herbs sold in southern Nigeria , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 8, Issue 1, February 2026
- Ekemini Ituen, Peace Madu, Adewale Olamoyesan, Gospel Asuquo, Chibueze J. Olelewe, Emmanuel E. Etim, Adsorption of dithiazolidine compounds on Fe(110) surface and potential for corrosion inhibition: DFT calculations and adsorption locator/Monte Carlo adsorption simulations , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 8, Issue 3, August 2026
- R. R. Hanvey, K. W. Bunonyo, Effect of Treatment Parameter on Oscillatory Flow of Blood Through an Atherosclerotic Artery with Heat Transfer , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 4, Issue 3, August 2022
- Akila Dabara Kayit, Mohd Tahir Ismail, Novel way to predict stock movements using multiple models and comprehensive analysis: leveraging voting meta-ensemble techniques , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 6, Issue 3, August 2024
- Emmanuel G. Ndoma, Nyakno J. George, Aniekan M. Ekanem, Muyiwa M. Orosun, Patrick O. Ushie, Emmanuel P. Agbo, Benson E. Eze, Charles C. Mbonu, Kolawole E. Adesina, Blessed Yahweh, Francis E. Okon, Evaluating the health risks of radionuclides in welding and fabrication workshops in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 7, Issue 3, August 2025
- Nahid Salma, Majid Khan Majahar Ali, Raja Aqib Shamim, Machine learning-based feature selection for ultra-high-dimensional survival data: a computational approach , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 7, Issue 3, August 2025
- R. El chaal, M. O. Aboutafail, Statistical Modelling by Topological Maps of Kohonen for Classification of the Physicochemical Quality of Surface Waters of the Inaouen Watershed Under Matlab , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 4, Issue 2, May 2022
- Ganiyu Ajileye, Adewale James, Ayinde Abdullahi, Taiye Oyedepo, Collocation Approach for the Computational Solution Of Fredholm-Volterra Fractional Order of Integro-Differential Equations , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 4, Issue 4, November 2022
- Faik Mayah, Nisreen Alokbi, Ali Sabeeh Rasheed, New Invariant Quantity To Measure The Entanglement In The Braids , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 4, Issue 4, November 2022
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Omowumi F. Lawal, Tunde T. Yusuf, Afeez Abidemi, On mathematical modelling of optimal control of typhoid fever with efficiency analysis , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 6, Issue 4, November 2024

