How computational modelling is transforming medicine – Physics World

Computational modelling has been brought under the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic, with scientists trying to predict how the SARS-CoV-2 virus will spread. On 23 March 2020 UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced a lockdown to tackle the spread of coronavirus, following the example of other countries around the world who chose this strategy to halt the virus' progression. This decision came days after Johnson's government toyed with the idea of letting the virus spread and infect up to 70% of the population, in order to develop so-called "herd immunity". The stark policy shift left people wondering what had changed. They predicted that should no action be taken, the death toll in the UK could reach 500,000, and may exceed 2 million in the US.