The COVID-19 global pandemic marks a new era in infectious disease outbreaks. As a consequence of globalization and the interconnectivity of the world in the 21st century, outbreaks can now spread more rapidly throughout the entire planet. The situation is further complicated by the volume of information and the ease by which it can be shared globally. Consequently, many more influencing factors need to be taken into consideration when understanding the current pandemic and modern infectious disease outbreaks form more complex systems.
For the current pandemic, the rapid spread of the virus, the relatively limited knowledge about coronaviruses and the mass of information that has been generated and shared in a relatively short time has made it more difficult to determine effective intervention strategies. Traditional approaches are insufficient and cross-disciplinary methods are needed which can combine, investigate and interpret data collectively.
This is the goal of our work and, using our previous experience investigating infectious disease outbreaks, we are performing an integrated investigation that combines (1) Clinical, Virology & Epidemiology data (2) Information content in research literature & (3) Media & Information .
Thee Project is a Collaboration With Department of Microbiology at OUS, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Centre for Disease Control, Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Norwegian Sequencing Center, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Swedish Institute of Public Health, Ethiopian Institute of Public Health​