Use of geographic information systems web mapping application to support active case search to guide public health and social measures in the context of COVID-19 in Zimbabwe: a preliminary report to guide replication of methods in similar resource settings

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The new coronavirus (COVID-19) that emerged from Wuhan, Hubei Province of China in December 2019, causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARI) has fast spread across the entire globe, with most countries struggling to slow and reduce the spread of the virus through rapid screening, testing, isolation, case management, contact tracing, implementing social distancing and lockdowns. This has been shown to be a major factor in countries that have been successful in containing COVID-19 transmission. Early detection of cases is important, and the use of geospatial technology can support to detect and easily identify potential hotspots that will require timely response. The use of spatial analysis with geographic information systems (GIS) had proved to be effective in providing timely and effective solutions in supporting epidemic response and pandemics over the years. It has developed and evolved rapidly with a complete technological tool for representing data, model construction, visualization and platform construction among others.

Keywords

• gis
• covid19
• zimbabwe
• active case search
• geo-spatial analysis