JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic dates back to 31 December 2019, when first cases were reported in the People’s Republic of China. In the Czech Republic, the first three cases of infection with the novel coronavirus were confirmed on 1 March 2020. The joint effort of state authorities and researchers gave rise to a unique team, which combines methodical knowledge of real-world processes with the know-how needed for effective processing, analysis and online visualization of data.

Objective:

Because of an urgent need emerged for a tool which would make it possible to present important reports, and which would be based on valid data sources only, a team of government experts together with researchers focused on the design and development of a web application intended to provide a regularly updated overview of COVID-19 epidemiology in the Czech Republic to the general public.

Methods:

CRISP-DM standardized methodology for knowledge mining from database structures was chosen for the complex solution of analytical processing and visualization of data, which provides validated information on the COVID-19 epidemic across the Czech Republic. Great emphasis was put on the understanding and a correct implementation of all six steps (business understanding, data understanding, data preparation, modelling, evaluation and deployment) needed in the process including the infrastructure of a nationwide information system, the methodological setting of communication channels between all involved stakeholders, and data collection, processing, analysis, validation and visualization.

Results:

The web application (available at https://onemocneni-aktualne.mzcr.cz/covid-19) has been developed as a online platform providing a set of outputs in the form of tables, graphs and maps intended for the general public. Its primary objective is to publish a well-arranged visualization and clear explanation of basic information included in the basic overview of COVID-19 epidemiology in the Czech Republic. It covers the overall numbers of performed tests, confirmed cases of COVID-19, persons who have recovered from the disease and COVID-19-related deaths.

Conclusions:

The online interactive overview of the current spread of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic was launched on 12 March 2020 and has immediately become the primary communication channel employed by the health care sector to present the current situation regarding the COVID-19 epidemic. Complex reporting of coronavirus disease epidemic in the Czech Republic also shows an effective way how to interconnect knowledge held by various specialists, such as regional and national methodology experts, who report positive cases of the disease on a daily basis, with knowledge held by developers of central registries, analysts, developers of web applications and leadership in the health care sector.