
Monitoring the COVID-19 in the age of misinformation and Big Data expansion becomes critical. The growing social concern about the virus has been reflected in the media, social networks and Google. It also shows the most affected industries and the most active characters in the dialogues.
The tourism industry, telecommunications, airlines, technology and media companies are among the most affected. Thus, it is essential that we stay connected and that all these data are collected and analysed.
Nuria Oliver, a data scientist, reminds how in 2009 she analyzed aggregated and anonymized data from the mobile phone network to measure the impact of the drastic measures taken by the Mexican Government (similar to those taken today by Spain and Italy) to stop the A Influenza pandemic. Many years have passed and, since then, the smartphone use has become widespread until it is now another appendage of our body. They have thus become a mine of information about their users.
“In the age of data, having reliable information is more important than ever. In the context of health crises, analyzing the geographical factor effectively is essential for making strategic decisions,”
says Ángeles Villaescusa, Esri’s general manager in Spain.
New paradigm, new tools
Therefore, the Johns Hopkins Center for Science and Systems Engineering together with Esri’s ArcGIS platform have presented a new tool that displays real-time data on coronavirus patients, deaths and recoveries around the globe.

The analysis of all this data allows us to predict how fast the virus can spread. But also, when interventions aimed at reducing mobility become necessary, as is now the case in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom or the United States.
In this way, monitoring COVID-19 through maps and apps fights misinformation by offering users the possibility of obtaining reliable and updated data on the pandemic. In addition to reporting the number of patients who have recovered and the number of deaths.