Dissertation defense (June 30, 2023): Almir Antonio Monteiro Junior
Student: Almir Antonio Monteiro Junior
Title: Localização de Postos de Testagem durante Surto de Doença Infecciosa: Uma Abordagem via Programação Inteira
Advisor: Pedro Henrique González Silva
Day: June 30, 2023
Abstract: In large infectuous outbreaks, like the one caused by COVID-19, a quick and efficient response from healthcare systems is fundamental to minimize the impact on people’s life. One of the main concerns is to quickly identify new cases, to decrease the propagation, given the infectuous property of the disease. Consequently, some kind of testing procedure must be implemented, to verify if the pacient is contaminated or not. This test must be done as fast and secure as possible, to minimize the contact with other people, in case the pacient is infected. Therefore, beside determining where to place the test centers, its capacity must be correctly calculated, to minimize long queues and so the risk of infection. This work proposes the use of Integer Programming with Queue Theory to determine the test centers locations, backed by geographical data. These centers must cover all the demand from a place, like a city or a district, minimizing the deploying costs and the distance a patient must travel to be tested. Furthermore, they always must take into account the waiting time constraints, as all those are key points to a satisfactory solution to this problem. Different scenarios were evaluated, and the results showed that the use of a regionalized service, as well as the existing health facilities, were beneficial.
