The Redlands-based company Esri is helping in that battle through geographic data-mapping.
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"Beyond what the individual wants to know, what do health departments and responders of all types need to know? And they need to watch the evolution," said Dr. Este Geraghty, chief medical officer and health solutions director at Esri.
It was Esri's software that enabled Johns Hopkins University to spot a trend in health data coming out of China as the coronavirus cases climbed.
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"It was the John Hopkins dashboard that brought public attention and widespread professional attention to this problem," Geraghty said.
The dashboard lays out in real time the number of infections, fatalities and recoveries by region.
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The information helps public health and emergency authorities make decisions such shutting down events or popular attractions and asking people to practice self-distancing to slow the pandemic.
"We can also see if any of these interventions are making a difference," said Geraghty.
A difference that could help stomp out transmission chains.
Esri is also looking beyond tracking the virus to mapping out where people can go to get tested for COVID-19.
"We have the tools to display it and make it convenient, but I think a lot of us are looking for resource of that testing center data," said Geraghty.
Once that data is collected it will be made available to the public. For now the public is invited to learn about Esri and its data collection to help them make decisions by visiting coronavirus-resources.esri.com