Using big data to fight Covid-19

Our particle physics and cosmology research students are using their knowledge of maths and big data in the fight against Covid-19. They are part of a team of experts, comprised of United Nations' (UN) personnel and academics, who are working to model the spread of the virus in different scenarios. The team's computer generated models can help predict what the best public health interventions and measures could be to limit the effects of the disease. Covid-19 threat Researchers have been applying their model to the Kutupalong-Batukhali Expansion Site region of the Cox's Bazar refugee operation in Bangladesh. The site houses almost 600,000 people and the spread of Covid-19 is a real threat in such a heavily populated environment with poor sanitation. Measures that have been used to slow the spread of the virus, like social distancing and household quarantining, are not always possible in the overcrowded conditions. Researchers, including Durham's experts, have focused their modelling on the movement of people within the settlement to explore where and how they may interact.