Malaysian Data Scientist Launches Website To Help Everyone Keep Track Of The Wuhan Virus

The website, aptly called CoronaTracker, was founded by Dr Cher Han Lau, along with lead data scientist Hafeez Nazri based in Cyberjaya and lead front-end engineer Tan Wei Seng based in Singapore, reported Malay Mail.

The one-stop website about all things 2019-nCoV was launched on Monday, 27 January.

It only took two days for the trio and hundreds of volunteers to build the comprehensive website after they began working on it on 25 January.

Dr Lau said within 36 hours, the website managed to gather volunteers from Malaysia, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, the US, and many other countries to fight against the spread of fake news about the coronavirus.

The community-based portal has over 460 volunteers now and they work around the clock to gather information from various sources and conduct data analysis, before presenting them neatly on the website.

"Medical doctors and experts help us validate and verify the information. And the general public act as (website) testers," said Dr Lau, who is also chief executive officer for training company LEAD, reported New Straits Times.

According to a notice, those who are interested to contribute can contact them via Telegram.

Not only does the website present vital information about the coronavirus from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Johns Hopkins University, it also highlights other news related about the virus, such as the supply chain disruptions between China and the world, business closures, and many more.