Before revision: Transmission rates in epidemic outbreaks  vary over time depending on the societal and government responseto infections and mortality data, as evidenced in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a mean field approach that models individuals like molecules in a well-mixed solution, I derive a modified SIR model in which the average daily contacts between susceptible and infected population are reduced based on the known infection levels, capturing the effects of social distancing policies.
After revision: Transmission rates in epidemic outbreaks vary over time depending on the societal and government responseto infections and mortality data, as evidenced in the course of the COVID-19 epidemic, in which the population behavior has been affected by the unprecedented abundance and rapid distribution of global infection and death data through online platforms. This manuscript revisits a SIR model in which the reduction of transmission rate is due to knowledge of infections. Through a mean field approach that models individuals like molecules in a well-mixed solution, I derive a modified SIR model in which the average daily contacts between susceptible and infected population are reduced based on the known infection levels, capturing the effects of social distancing policies.