How quickly does coronavirus spread? A U-M data science fellow works to answer the question.

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Qianying Lin presents to colleagues at MIDAS about her coronavirus research. (Global REACH, U-M Medical School)

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) advances around the world, a growing number of researchers are using computational models to estimate this spread. Among the first to publish on the subject is a team of Hong Kong- and China-based researchers that includes University of Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS) research fellow Qianying Lin. For the past several weeks, she has been working with international collaborators to estimate the transmissibility of COVID-19.

By their estimates, every infected person at the early stage of the outbreak can reasonably be expected to pass the virus along to 2-3 others. Their work has been cited multiple times by other teams working to paint an accurate picture for health officials ahead of the disease’s continued spread. Lin’s role on the project has been to program and run the simulations, work that is ongoing.