Taming the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic through the power of data in the Pacific Data Hub

COVID-19 pandemic in the pacific

Though less affected than some regions of the world, the Pacific has not been spared from COVID-19. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pacific Community (SPC)’s Public Health Division has been closely monitoring the global and regional situation through its epidemic intelligence system and has been gathering data and producing weekly epidemiological reports on the COVID-19 cases reported in the Pacific.

Data and information are collected and received from different sources, especially official reports released by Pacific Governments and Ministries or Departments of Health that are available in the public domain (see details below). SPC also closely monitors other sources of information, such as media reports and national statistical releases. The data and information gathered from these sources is always verified with the relevant national authorities including Ministries or Departments of Health to ensure that the data and information are accurate.

‘Since March 2020, our Surveillance, Preparedness and Response team has put considerable effort into working with and supporting national authorities in collaboration with partners to enhance COVID-19 surveillance and response at national and regional levels’, says Dr Paula Vivili, Deputy-Director General at SPC.

SPC team gathers morbidity and mortality data and make it available and accessible through one single point of access on SPC website, through the COVID-19: Pacific Community Updates web page. This innovative web page has recently had a make-over to provide better visualisations of, and access to, the underlying COVID-19 cases and death data via the Pacific Data Hub. 

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