The role of permanently resident populations in the two-patches SIR model with commuters (Q2105854)

This paper describes an SIR model with four subpopulations, which represent permanent residents of one patch, and two populations of ``commuters'' who migrate between the two patches. The two subpopulations of commuters represent the commuters present on the two patches at a given time. The core of the model is a system of ordinary differential equations essentially similar to other SIR models, but extended to include transmission between the permanent residents and commuters, and migration of commuters between the two patches. This system is 12-dimensional, first order in time \(t\), and nonlinear. The authors methods are primarily analytical and rigorous. The authors establish that there are two effective basic reproduction numbers associated with the two patches, and an overall reproduction number for the whole system. They establish several bounds on the overall reproduction number and establish some factors that affect it. This paper is likely to be relevant to epidemiologists and researchers in public health who are interested in the effect of mobility on epidemic transmission, especially when two different cities or polities have inconsistent public health measures in place.