Having successfully launched the first phase of its COVID dashboard, the Rwanda Biomedical Center has now decided to start the second phase of development and develop a new partnership with the support of the RESICODI project. 

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the ongoing coronavirus outbreak: a global pandemic. The outbreak of the virus strained on health systems across several continents. Rwanda reported the first case of COVID-19 on the 14th of March 2020 and the government moved swiftly to put in place measures to minimise infection cases.

During that period regular updates and awareness campaigns were initiated to inform and educate the public about pandemic. At the forefront, RBC (Rwanda Biomedical Center) deployed a digital mapping solution for health emergency response to COVID-19, to help with the mapping of COVID-19 cases in Rwanda. With this solution, RBC was able to develop a COVID-19 dashboard for Rwanda, which provided great insights and key indicators to the population such as cumulative tests, confirmed/active/recovered cases and deaths, all sorted by districts, gender and age. However, with the evolution of the pandemic, the international community and the Rwandan government have strengthened their efforts to contain the virus.

Upgrading the existing dashboard with new capabilities and key indicators is therefore highly needed. It is in this dynamic that the RESICODI project intervenes. RBC wishes to upgrade existing dashboard with dynamic maps showing spatial distribution and evolution of COVID-19 cases across Rwanda since the outbreak but also capture ongoing COVID-19 vaccines administration efforts, hence achieving a comprehensive visualisation, showing how Rwanda is responding to the pandemic.

Experts will therefore collaborate on the production of anticipated diverse indicators about COVID-19 that will not only benefit the public for their information but also the government to reinforce its measures in managing the pandemic and continue to make informed decisions based on available spatially distributed data. Those data are expected to provide insightful comparison between new cases development and vaccines administration. It will also help researchers and academia to gain new insights about COVID-19 management trends in Rwanda. 

The dashboard is available on   rbc.gov.rw