New Delhi: The detection of two fresh cases of coronavirus in Delhi and Hyderabad Monday spurred several concerns over the capability of India’s public health system and the measures being employed by the Modi government.
The health ministry has been actively pursuing a non-disclosure policy when it comes to revealing the details of the patients. In all the five positive cases in the country so far — the other three cases are in Kerala — patient details were not divulged citing “privacy concerns”.
But at least two countries affected by the epidemic have been releasing data on the patients.
The government of Singapore, where 108 positive cases have been reported, has been furnishing details of the patients in its press releases.
The information has been collated and used to set up the website, https://www.wuhanvirus.sg, which provides comprehensive information of the positive cases, including their occupation, place of work, symptoms, the hospital they were admitted to and the “network topology”.
A network graph on the website depicts how the virus allegedly spread. The website, however, was set up by a local programming school — UpCode Academy.
“…the website itself is not made by the singapore gov, although the data comes from them. It’s apparently made by… the staff of a local programming school!” tweeted one user.
btw, the website itself is not made by the singapore gov, although the data comes from them. It's apparently made by… the staff of a local programming school!? A strong sense of civic responsibility? A personal desire to visualise the threat? Commercial opportunity? Who knows
— ? ® ¥ ¨ † å ® ø (@RyutaroUchiyama) March 3, 2020
Similar database in Hong Kong
Another Twitter user pointed to a similar database that is being run by the Hong Kong government. The website includes a detailed list of the positive cases of coronavirus along with a map depicting their place of residence.
A few Twitter users even tagged Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and the Ministry of Health saying that something similar should also be done in the case of India.
@drharshvardhan @MoHFW_INDIA We too should have something similar.
— Sanchit Agarwal (@sanchit_mdi) March 3, 2020
Also read: We need to prepare for pandemics. They’ll keep coming