Selection of models and parameter estimation for monitoring the COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil via Bayesian inference

In 2019, a new strain of coronavirus led to an outbreak of disease cases named COVID-19, evolving rapidly into a pandemic. In Brazil, delayed decision making and lack of knowledge have resulted in an alarming increase in daily transmission and deaths. In this context, researchers used mathematical models to assist in determining the parameters that act in the spread of diseases, revealing containment measures. However, numerous mathematical models exist in the literature, each with specific parameters to be specified, leading to an important question about which model best represents the pandemic behavior. In this regard, this work aims to apply the Approximate Bayesian Computation method to select the best model and simultaneously estimate the parameters to resolve the abovementioned issue. The models adopted were susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR), susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered (SEIR), susceptible-infected-recovered-susceptible (SIRS), and susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered-susceptible (SEIRS). Approximate Bayesian Computation Monte Carlo Sequencing (ABC-SMC) was used to select among four competing models to represent the number of infected individuals and to estimate the model parameters based on three periods of Brazil COVID-19 data. A forecasting test was performed to test the ABC-SMC algorithm and the selected models for two months. The result was compared with the actual number of infected that were reported. Among the teste models, it was found that the ABC-SMC algorithm had a promising performance, since the data were noisy and the models could not predict all parameters.