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Simple Summary: This paper proposes a modified SEIR model to study COVID-19 in Wuhan. The modified model is calibrated by the public number of COVID-19 hospitalization cases in Wuhan. The paper further uses this model to estimate the earliest date of COVID-19 infection in Wuhan, which is in agreement with some existing results. Based on SEIR (susceptible–exposed–infectious–removed) epidemic model, we propose a modified epidemic mathematical model to describe the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in Wuhan, China. Using public data, the uncertainty parameters of the proposed model for COVID-19 in Wuhan were calibrated. The uncertainty of the control basic reproduction number was studied with the posterior probability density function of the uncertainty model parameters. The mathematical model was used to inverse deduce the earliest start date of COVID-19 infection in Wuhan with consideration of the lack of information for the initial conditions of the model. The result of the uncertainty analysis of the model is in line with the observed data for COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. The numerical results show that the modified mathematical model could model the spread of COVID-19 epidemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, there was a short run of medical resources, and Sina Weibo, a social media platform in China, built a channel for novel coronavirus pneumonia patients to seek help. Based on the geo-tagging Sina Weibo data from February 3rd to 12th, 2020, this paper analyzes the spatiotemporal distribution of COVID-19 cases in the main urban area of Wuhan and explores the urban spatial features of COVID-19 transmission in Wuhan. The results show that the elderly population accounts for more than half of the total number of Weibo help seekers, and a close correlation between them has also been found in terms of spatial distribution features, which confirms that the elderly population is the group of high-risk and high-prevalence in the COVID-19 outbreak, needing more attention of public health and epidemic prevention policies. On the other hand, the early transmission of COVID-19 in Wuhan could be divide into three phrases: Scattered infection, community spread, and full-scale outbreak. This paper can help to understand the spatial transmission of COVID-19 in Wuhan, so as to propose an effective public health preventive strategy for urban space optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]