298: Human Behavior Simulations to Determine Best Strategies for Reducing COVID-19 Risk in Schools
Original title: Human Behavior Simulations to Determine Best Strategies for Reducing COVID-19 Risk in Schools

Research in ENGLISH

The dynamics of COVID-19 spread have been studied from an epidemiological perspective, at the city, country, and global scales (Rabajante, 2020, Ma, 2020, and Giuliani et al., 2020), although after two years of the pandemic we know that viruses spread mostly through built environments. This study is part of the Spatiotemporal Modeling of COVID-19 spread in buildings research (Gomez, Hadi, and Kemenova et al., 2020 and 2021), which proposes a multidimensional model that integrates spatial configurations, temporal use of spaces, and virus characteristics into one multidimensional model. This paper presents a specific branch of this model that analyzes the behavioral parameters, such as vaccination, masking, and mRNA booster rates, and compares them to reducing room occupancy. We focused on human behavior, specifically agent interactions within six feet. We utilized the multipurpose simulation software, AnyLogic, to quantify the agent exposure to the virus, in the Huntsville high school building by Perkins and Will. The results show how the most effective solution, reducing the occupancy rates or redesigning layouts, being the most impractical one, is as effective as 80% of the population getting a third boost.
Spatiotemporal Modeling, Behavior Analytics, COVID-19 Spread, Agent-Based Simulation, COVID-19 Prevention