In the midst of the chaos and panic caused by the coronavirus outbreak, one Malaysian man was determined to counter all the fake news and ensure people are getting the correct information with the CoronaTracker!
Dr. Lau, the founder and CEO of LEAD, a data science start-up realised that he and his team could do something to make the information and data about the coronavirus more accessible to the public.
Photo: Dr Lau Linkedin
In his interview with the Vulcan Post, he explained that after using the John Hopkins University (JHU) dashboard, the team realised that it is very hard to gather data for in-depth analysis (for example, time series to monitor the growth and spread of the virus).
“The detailed data we want is everywhere. It is also difficult to find localised news (related to Singapore, Malaysia, or Kuala Lumpur only). So, we built a platform and used technology to consolidate that information, and a portal to display the information and make the data accessible to the general public.” he said in the interview.
The result of their effort culminated into an online platform that could not only educate people about the virus, but also track the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide along with those who have recovered or died due to the infection.
Photo: CoronaTracker
The platform was also done in no time at all. The work on the platform only started on the morning of January 25 and the first version of it was ready in about 24 hours.
“We polished it, made sure data sources are connected and that news articles are filtered, to the best of our efforts. And then we launched it on January 27 via a Facebook live session,” Dr. Lau shared.
“We manually select the sources for news articles and data and leave it to the machine to do its job. We will check it as soon as users report the numbers are not tallied,” he added.
The team consist of over 500 people from all across the world including Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, US, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, the Netherlands, France and many others. Some are data scientists, full stack developers, UI/UX designers, medical doctors, domain experts and even the general public who acts as testers for constant improvement of the platform.
Photo: Dr Lau
The CoronaTracker is currently being improved at maximum speed as we speak. The website currently features handpicked sources, analytics on coronavirus, prevention information, information on what coronavirus is, the latest news on it, and screening centres near you (at the moment, for Singapore and Malaysian states only).
According to Dr Lau, is it the utmost important that the information and data they produce are from reputable sources.
“We have medical professionals and volunteers from government agencies who advise us on the best practice, and we always discard the information if we cannot get everyone’s agreement,” he said.
It’s so inspiring to see Malaysians doing their part in a time of crisis. Way to go Dr Lau and his team!
By: Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya
