Wits researchers launch most comprehensive COVID-19 dashboard in South Africa
- Wits University
The dashboard is aimed at informing government, scientists, the media and general public with quick, easy-to-understand information on the current situation.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Wits University has launched the most comprehensive data dashboard on the COVID-19 virus in South Africa to date.
The dashboard, that shows the latest statistics on how the virus is affecting the population of South Africa, is updated on a daily basis, using official statistics from both local sources, such as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and international sources such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). The statistics on aspects such as the cumulative confirmed cases in South Africa, the daily confirmed cases, relative increases of infections are presented in colourful, easy-to-interpret visualisations. Other statistics include infections by gender, province, age and transmission routes.
“We are experts in analysing and interpreting big data, and we believe that it is important that someone put this data together and present a bigger picture of the impact of the virus on the country,” says Professor Bruce Mellado from the Wits School of Physics, who initiated the project. The team working on the project includes computer and data analysts, engineers and physicists.
The dashboard is aimed at informing government, scientists, the media and the general public with quick, easy-to-understand information on the current situation. It is updated every day approximately an hour after the release of the official COVID-19 update from the NICD. As more data becomes available, more features will be added to the dashboard.
Mellado is in talks with several government departments to get them to recognise as well as to add to the database, in order to make it a powerful tool in the fight against the virus.
“Our team believes in the power of knowledge to solve complex issues, and we hope that our strong ties and cooperation between the scientific community, the executive and the public can help overcome challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Mellado.
Link to the dashboard: https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/15817068-62f2-4101-8e0f-385e2ddd9326/page/1M