COVID-19 : strategies for a geospatial response in Africa

Abstract

Regional Committee of United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management for Africa. Since its emergence in China, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has retained its grip on the world. “Business as usual” is no longer possible. Our ways of doing things have changed deeply. Starting as a health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a social and economic crisis with negative repercussions for industry and trade and leaving as yet undetermined psychological scars. The World Health Organization (WHO), estimates that, at last count, there were over 21 million positive COVID-19 cases worldwide. Although transmission rates seem to have slowed slightly, that number is growing by the day as new cases are detected and reported around the world. To date, the death toll stands at 4 per cent of reported COVID-19 cases. With no medical cure in sight, the world is struggling to find better ways to cope with the pandemic. Countries worldwide have taken a set of broadly similar measures to deal with the pandemic, including the implementation of social distancing rules, travel restrictions across continents, countries, cities and sometimes within cities, border closures and the mandatory wearing of personal protective equipment, including masks. Governments and health authorities are harnessing the power of technology to identify solutions to the crisis.