Fig 7. Dependence of infectious isolation on control parameters.

(a) Effects of isolation of contagious individuals on the epidemic curve. The grey area indicates when measures are not yet in place. (b) The peak is progressively flattened until a disease-free equilibrium is reached for sufficiently large η. (c) Unless η is large enough, stronger measures of this kind might delay the mitigation of the epidemic. Note that the critical η can be higher if there is delay in intervening, i.e. if infectious individuals are isolated after several days and can thus spread the infection.