THE Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) has slackened to update the current Covid-19 status of the country since it was last updated last month.
Since the weeks of silence by the ministry, members of the public are confused if the virus is still around or not.
There were reports that many people in the country are now down with flu, the likely symptoms of the Covid-19 virus.
A pundit who wants his name withhold told this paper yesterday that data plays a critical role in the Covid-19 response.
He said researchers rely on case data to make predictions of how many people will likely be infected by the virus. Not only that, governments also use this information to identify policies and measures they need to adopt and implement in their countries’ contexts. Aid organizations use data to help understand needs and target their interventions.
“However, their analyses and responses are only as good as the data at hand. So, if there is underreporting of deaths in a country, modelling analyses picking up that data will likely underreport deaths in their predictions, he said.
“And that will have an impact on how governments prepare for the pandemic.
“If the data is not as good, then our forecast in the future underreported deaths … and that will lead to under preparation help governments to prepare how many hospital beds will be needed, ICU beds, and ventilators,” he said.
According to Dr William Schaffner, professor Vanderbilt University, the Covid-19 data states and localities publish is essential to helping people navigate their daily lives and enabling political leaders to make science-based decisions that the public can support.
When reaching out to the MHMS for comments, their media team said the current status of Covid-19 in the country will be made known in a health talkback show this week.
“We are still trying to finalise the date for the Radio Talk-Back-Show,” the MHMS Media said.
By FOLLET JOHN
Newsroom, Honiara
