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The role of geographic information in the fight against the corona virus – 03/18/2020
Wim van Wegen
Many countries are on lockdown, governments have imposed severe travel restrictions, companies have closed their offices. It is clear that the worldwide spread of the Corona virus has a great impact on our daily lives. In the coming weeks, we will talk about the geographical information that we have entered into the computer and the spatial information industry that can help in mapping the development of its outbreak, as well as the role that it can potentially play in the fight against the pandemic. we will talk Here, we present a series of maps from the Esri StoryMap team, which visualize the latest developments related to the virus outbreak.
The maps and charts in StoryMap Esri are updated daily and are an overview of the confirmed and predicted cases of the corona virus based on statistics prepared by Johns Hopkins University. StoryMap also provides you with the spread of the coronavirus in relation to previous epidemics such as MERS and SARS. Available statistics show that the new corona virus is a less dangerous virus compared to the viruses of its family. Although its ongoing outbreak has killed more than 7,000 people—almost five times more than SARS and MERS—its global death rate is about 4 percent. In comparison, the case fatality rate for SARS was about 10 percent, and the case fatality rate for MERS was about 35 percent.
How the corona virus spreads
The outbreak of the corona virus began in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the largest city in central China with a population of about 11 million people. Epidemiologists have traced the likely source of the outbreak to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in downtown Wuhan, where they believe the virus was first transmitted from animals to humans. A comprehensive and highly informative map produced by Esri contains aerial images of the market in Wuhan. Corona virus has spread all over the world. The latest statistics on coronavirus cases around the world, provided by the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE), are displayed on the map. This map is free here.
Lauren Gardner, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University who is tracking the outbreak, says: “It is important to know how to distinguish between the advice and information provided by public health officials and scientists, versus the misinformation and distortions that It creates unnecessary fear, let’s make a distinction. .
Geomatic information obtained from reliable and accurate geographic data, in addition to all the scientific knowledge of famous virologists and other medical specialists, is the main and essential source for officials. We can fight the corona virus only if we succeed in global solidarity. This message is very clear to governments around the world. Now is the time to bury rivalries, because international cooperation as much as possible will be essential to overcome this crisis. Join us @Madeh_33
This post is written by Bijan_amin