IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0244536.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Model-based forecasting for Canadian COVID-19 data

Author

Listed:
  • Li-Pang Chen
  • Qihuang Zhang
  • Grace Y Yi
  • Wenqing He

Abstract

Background: Since March 11, 2020 when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of infected cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries have climbed rapidly. To understand the impact of COVID-19 on public health, many studies have been conducted for various countries. To complement the available work, in this article we examine Canadian COVID-19 data for the period of March 18, 2020 to August 16, 2020 with the aim to forecast the dynamic trend in a short term. Method: We focus our attention on Canadian data and analyze the four provinces, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec, which have the most severe situations in Canada. To build predictive models and conduct prediction, we employ three models, smooth transition autoregressive (STAR) models, neural network (NN) models, and susceptible-infected-removed (SIR) models, to fit time series data of confirmed cases in the four provinces separately. In comparison, we also analyze the data of daily infections in two states of USA, Texas and New York state, for the period of March 18, 2020 to August 16, 2020. We emphasize that different models make different assumptions which are basically difficult to validate. Yet invoking different models allows us to examine the data from different angles, thus, helping reveal the underlying trajectory of the development of COVID-19 in Canada. Finding: The examinations of the data dated from March 18, 2020 to August 11, 2020 show that the STAR, NN, and SIR models may output different results, though the differences are small in some cases. Prediction over a short term period incurs smaller prediction variability than over a long term period, as expected. The NN method tends to outperform other two methods. All the methods forecast an upward trend in all the four Canadian provinces for the period of August 12, 2020 to August 23, 2020, though the degree varies from method to method. This research offers model-based insights into the pandemic evolvement in Canada.

Suggested Citation

  • Li-Pang Chen & Qihuang Zhang & Grace Y Yi & Wenqing He, 2021. "Model-based forecasting for Canadian COVID-19 data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0244536
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244536
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244536
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244536&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0244536?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fotios Petropoulos & Spyros Makridakis, 2020. "Forecasting the novel coronavirus COVID-19," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-8, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cia Vei Tan & Sarbhan Singh & Chee Herng Lai & Ahmed Syahmi Syafiq Md Zamri & Sarat Chandra Dass & Tahir Bin Aris & Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim & Balvinder Singh Gill, 2022. "Forecasting COVID-19 Case Trends Using SARIMA Models during the Third Wave of COVID-19 in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-12, January.
    2. Kathryn S Taylor & James W Taylor, 2022. "Interval forecasts of weekly incident and cumulative COVID-19 mortality in the United States: A comparison of combining methods," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Sen, Anindya & Baker, John David & Zhang, Qihuang & Agarwal, Rishav Raj & Lam, Jean-Paul, 2023. "Do more stringent policies reduce daily COVID-19 case counts? Evidence from Canadian provinces," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 225-242.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dante Miller & Jong-Min Kim, 2021. "Univariate and Multivariate Machine Learning Forecasting Models on the Price Returns of Cryptocurrencies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-10, October.
    2. Masum, Mohammad & Masud, M.A. & Adnan, Muhaiminul Islam & Shahriar, Hossain & Kim, Sangil, 2022. "Comparative study of a mathematical epidemic model, statistical modeling, and deep learning for COVID-19 forecasting and management," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Das, Saikat & Bose, Indranil & Sarkar, Uttam Kumar, 2023. "Predicting the outbreak of epidemics using a network-based approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(2), pages 819-831.
    4. Chakraborty, Tanujit & Ghosh, Indrajit, 2020. "Real-time forecasts and risk assessment of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases: A data-driven analysis," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    5. Emrah Gecili & Assem Ziady & Rhonda D Szczesniak, 2021. "Forecasting COVID-19 confirmed cases, deaths and recoveries: Revisiting established time series modeling through novel applications for the USA and Italy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, January.
    6. Camacho, Carmen & Vasilakis, Chrysovalantis, 2023. "Transmissible Diseases, Vaccination and Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 16504, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Paolo Berta & Paolo Paruolo & Stefano Verzillo & Pietro Giorgio Lovaglio, 2020. "A bivariate prediction approach for adapting the health care system response to the spread of COVID-19," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-14, October.
    8. Noureddine Ouerfelli & Narcisa Vrinceanu & Diana Coman & Adriana Lavinia Cioca, 2022. "Empirical Modeling of COVID-19 Evolution with High/Direct Impact on Public Health and Risk Assessment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-13, March.
    9. Berta, P. & Lovaglio, P.G. & Paruolo, P. & Verzillo, S., 2020. "Real Time Forecasting of Covid-19 Intensive Care Units demand," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 20/16, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    10. Doornik, Jurgen A. & Castle, Jennifer L. & Hendry, David F., 2022. "Short-term forecasting of the coronavirus pandemic," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 453-466.
    11. Semenoglou, Artemios-Anargyros & Spiliotis, Evangelos & Makridakis, Spyros & Assimakopoulos, Vassilios, 2021. "Investigating the accuracy of cross-learning time series forecasting methods," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 1072-1084.
    12. Kathryn S Taylor & James W Taylor, 2022. "Interval forecasts of weekly incident and cumulative COVID-19 mortality in the United States: A comparison of combining methods," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-25, March.
    13. Dalton Garcia Borges de Souza & Erivelton Antonio dos Santos & Francisco Tarcísio Alves Júnior & Mariá Cristina Vasconcelos Nascimento, 2021. "On Comparing Cross-Validated Forecasting Models with a Novel Fuzzy-TOPSIS Metric: A COVID-19 Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-25, December.
    14. Konstantinos Demertzis & Dimitrios Tsiotas & Lykourgos Magafas, 2020. "Modeling and Forecasting the COVID-19 Temporal Spread in Greece: An Exploratory Approach Based on Complex Network Defined Splines," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-17, June.
    15. Khalid A. Kheirallah & Belal Alsinglawi & Abdallah Alzoubi & Motasem N. Saidan & Omar Mubin & Mohammed S. Alorjani & Fawaz Mzayek, 2020. "The Effect of Strict State Measures on the Epidemiologic Curve of COVID-19 Infection in the Context of a Developing Country: A Simulation from Jordan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-11, September.
    16. Nathan H. Schumaker & Sydney M. Watkins, 2021. "Adding Space to Disease Models: A Case Study with COVID-19 in Oregon, USA," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-13, April.
    17. Michał Wieczorek & Jakub Siłka & Dawid Połap & Marcin Woźniak & Robertas Damaševičius, 2020. "Real-time neural network based predictor for cov19 virus spread," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, December.
    18. Torrealba-Rodriguez, O. & Conde-Gutiérrez, R.A. & Hernández-Javier, A.L., 2020. "Modeling and prediction of COVID-19 in Mexico applying mathematical and computational models," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    19. Jordan J Bird & Chloe M Barnes & Cristiano Premebida & Anikó Ekárt & Diego R Faria, 2020. "Country-level pandemic risk and preparedness classification based on COVID-19 data: A machine learning approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, October.
    20. Mohammad Amin Hariri-Ardebili, 2020. "Living in a Multi-Risk Chaotic Condition: Pandemic, Natural Hazards and Complex Emergencies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-16, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0244536. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.