UGA launches coronavirus tracker

John Drake (pictured above), director of the University of Georgia Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, says the Center has launched a new Coronavirus Tracker. The tracker is the work of CEID's Coronavirus Working Group, convened to provide timely, data-driven situation awareness about the COVID-19 outbreak.

Due to the lack of prior data during the emergence of a novel pathogen, the ability to respond quickly and effectively respond depends on the timely assessment of information collected in real time. On Jan. 24, the CEID formed the Coronavirus Working Group, a group of about 20 scientists with data science expertise in data manipulation and interpretation, visualization, GIS, machine learning, computational statistics and dynamical modeling.

The Working Group’s 2019 Coronavirus Tracker provides data-driven, information rich situation awareness about the rapidly changing conditions of the current outbreak. Activities include:

• Mapping the spatial spread of COVID-19 within China and abroad.
• Developing models for understanding the early stages of transmission and extrapolation to future events.
• Estimating key parameters related to transmission.
• Compiling clinical and epidemiological information to aid in the development and interpretation of model outputs as well as understanding of events as they are observed.
• Assessing the effectiveness of public health interventions on containment.

The 2019 Coronavirus Tracker is updated every morning about 9 a.m.