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  • 2020
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Demystifying the Math of the Coronavirus

By: Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:13
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Abstract

We provide an elementary mathematical description of the spread of the coronavirus. We explain two fundamental relationships: How the rate of growth in new infections is determined by the “effective reproductive number” and how the effective reproductive number is affected by social distancing. By making a key approximation, we are able to formulate these relationships very simply and thereby avoid complicated mathematics. The same approximation leads to an elementary method for estimating the effective reproductive number.

Keywords

Coronavirus; Health Pandemics; Mathematical Methods

Citation

Kohlberg, Elon, and Abraham Neyman. "Demystifying the Math of the Coronavirus." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-112, April 2020. (Revised May 2020.)
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About The Author

Elon Kohlberg

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Related Work

    • 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Demystifying the Math of the Coronavirus

    By: Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman
Related Work
  • Demystifying the Math of the Coronavirus By: Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman
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