Due to the recent diffusion of COVID-19 outbreak, the scientific community is making efforts in analysing models for understanding the present situation and predicting future scenarios. In this paper, we propose a Susceptible-Infected-Exposed-Recovered-Dead (SEIRD) differential model [Weitz J. S. and Dushoff J., Scientific reports, 2015] for the analysis and forecast of the COVID-19 spread in Italian regions, using the data from the Italian Protezione Civile from February 24th 2020. In this study, we investigate an adaptation of SEIRD that takes into account the actual policies of the Italian government, consisting of modelling the infection rate as a time-dependent function (SEIRD(rm)). Preliminary results on Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna regions confirm that SEIRD(rm) fits the data more accurately than the original SEIRD model with constant rate infection parameter. Moreover, the increased flexibility in the choice of the infection rate function makes it possible to better control the predictions due to the lockdown policy. 12 the outbreak containment. 13 We consider here deterministic compartmental models, based on a system of initial 14 value problems of Ordinary Differential Equations. This theory has been studied since 15 the beginning of the century by W.O. Kermack and A. G. MacKendrick [3] who 16proposed the basic Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) model. The SIR model and its 17 later modifications, such as Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Removed (SEIR) [4] were later 18 introduced in the study of outbreaks diffusion. These models split the population into 19 : medRxiv preprint groups, compartments, and reproduce their behaviour by formalising their reciprocal 20 interactions. For example, the SIR model groups are Susceptible who can catch the 21 disease, Infected who have the disease and can spread it, and Removed those who have 22 either had the disease or are recovered, immune or isolated until recovery. The SEIR 23 model proposed by Chowell et al. [5] also considers the Exposed group: containing 24 individuals who are in the incubation period.
25The evolution of the Infected group depends on a critical parameter, usually denoted 26 as R0, representing the basic reproductive rate and it measures of how transferable a 27 disease is. This quantity determines whether the infection will spread exponentially, die 28 out, or remain constant. When R 0 > 1 the epidemic is spreading.