“Top public health officials highlighted Tuesday the need to modernize public health data systems, analytics and capabilities to enable greater understanding of and response against COVID-19.”
“National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee that testing, contact tracing, research and development, and modernization of research databases and data capabilities are critical areas of current and future response work to COVID-19.”
“The officials emphasized that improving public health database infrastructure, data-sharing technologies and data analytics will be particularly key in tracking and preventing the spread of COVID-19, as well as in making significant research advancements in COVID-19 studies, treatments and vaccine development…”
“Data is also critical for supporting lab research, the officials said. CDC labs, for instance, have been applying sequencing technologies to COVID-19 and have shared respective data through domestic and global databases. The CDC is also leading the SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance (SPHERES), a “new national genomics consortium to coordinate SARS-CoV-2 sequencing across the United States to do large-scale, rapid genomic sequencing of the virus…” Read the full article here.
Source: Health Officials Call for Public Data System Modernization – By Melissa Harris, June 24, 2020. GovernmentCIO.
