Real-Time Prediction of the COVID-19 Epidemic in Thailand using Simple Model-Free Method and Time Series Regression Model

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was declared a global health crisis. The real-time accurate and predictive model of the number of infected cases could help inform the government of providing medical assistance and public health decision-making. This work is to model the ongoing COVID-19 spread in Thailand during the 1st and 2nd phases of the pandemic using the simple but powerful method based on the model-free and time series regression models. By employing the curve fitting, the model-free method using the logistic function, hyperbolic tangent function, and Gaussian function was applied to predict the number of newly infected patients and accumulate the total number of cases, including peak and viral cessation (ending) date. Alternatively, with a significant time-lag of historical data input, the regression model predicts those parameters from 1-day-ahead to 1-month-ahead. To obtain optimal prediction models, the parameters of the model-free method are fine-tuned through the genetic algorithm, whereas the generalized least squares update the parameters of the regression model. Assuming the future trend continues to follow the past pattern, the expected total number of patients is approximately 2,689 - 3,000 cases. The estimated viral cessation dates are May 2, 2020 (using Gaussian function), May 4, 2020 (using a hyperbolic function), and June 5, 2020 (using a logistic function), whereas the peak time occurred on April 5, 2020. Moreover, the model-free method performs well for long-term prediction, whereas the regression model is suitable for short-term prediction. Furthermore, the performances of the regression models yield a highly accurate forecast with lower RMSE and higher R2 up to 1-week-ahead. HIGHLIGHTS COVID-19 model for Thailand during the first and second phases of the epidemic The model-free method using the logistic function, hyperbolic tangent function, and Gaussian function  applied to predict the basic measures of the outbreak Regression model predicts those measures from one-day-ahead to one-month-ahead The parameters of the model-free method are fine-tuned through the genetic algorithm  GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT