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12 May 2020 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Pexels

A data scientist and research coordinator at the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with his supervisor at the University of Pretoria (UP), is at the forefront of the fight against the Covid-19 virus with accurate data and analysis.
Herkulaas Combrink of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the UFS and PhD candidate in Computer Science at the UP, said accurate data is important to prevent widespread panic and sensationalism during a global disaster such as the current pandemic. This information helps people to make informed decisions and to reduce their exposure to the threat of the virus.

Assisting decision-makers

“I, along with colleagues from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA, the provincial office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provincial clinicians, and the Free State Department of Health led by Dr David Motau, have been able to progress significantly in terms of evidence-based tools to assist provincial and national decision-makers during these turbulent times.”
“It does come at a cost, though, in that we have worked continuously since the lockdown, dedicating all our time and efforts to the department from all over to ensure that we are not part of some of the global statistics we have seen,” said Combrink. 

A paper written together with his supervisor, Dr Vukosi Marivate, has also been accepted by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)-accredited Data Science Journal.  This paper is related to a framework for sharing public data to the public in a way that is useful, usable, and understandable. 

Ongoing projects

Combrink said it is hard to name all those who are/were involved in the great work done by the Free State Department of Health, but some of them include Dr Elizabeth Reji (Head of Department, Family Medicine), Dr Collin Noel (surgeon, senior lecturer at the UFS), Dr Sammy Mokoena (community health registrar, UFS), Dr Ming-Han Motloung (public health medicine specialist, senior lecturer, UFS), Dr Perpetual Chikobvu (Director: Information Management at the Department of Health, affiliated lecturer at the UFS), as well as Alfred Deacon (lecturer at the UFS), who have worked at some point during this short space of time on one of the many projects. 

Some of the projects include the following:

• A provincial database for screening and monitoring.
• A data pipeline and assembly of hospital information flow, liaised with the NICD, Vodacom, and the different district managers to ensure that the pipeline occurs in a timely manner.
• Digitised paper-based capturing tools for rapid data capturing and processing.
• Incorporated state-of-the-art visualisation tools to action data into useful information for decision-makers in certain areas.
• Provided both provincial and national projections, stress testing different scenarios using a variety of statistical, computational, and/or machine-learning approaches to add to the already existing projections of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• Training healthcare professionals in the field to apply these tools within their own districts.
No easy task

“These aforementioned feats were by no means easy and are not completed yet, but we are getting there. In the foreseeable future, I will be working closely with national and international researchers to deploy a tool for hospital managers in the Free State that will assist them when we move from level 5 to any level below.”

“In addition to this, I am constantly providing support to the Free State Department of Health regarding any analysis required for decision-making purposes. The teams we work in comprise highly competent individuals with a passion for solving problems from multidisciplinary perspectives,” according to Combrink.

News Archive

Verklaring - Afsterwe van student
2005-03-07

Afsterwe van eerstejaarstudent - Verklaring deur Die Rektor en Visekanselier van die UV, Prof Frederick Fourie

Die bestuur van die UV is diep ontsteld oor die tragiese dood van een van ons studente, Hannes van Rensburg, die afgelope naweek. Ons het reeds met die ouers geskakel en ons innige simpatie aan hulle oorgedra.

“Ek is ook erg bekommerd oor die aard van die bewerings oor drankgebruik en -misbruik, en neem elkeen van die bewerings ernstig op.” Die UV-bestuur is, net soos besture by ander universiteite, uiters bekommerd oor die drinkkultuur onder studente, veral ook die element daarvan wat met gewaande manlikheid te doen het. Ook ander elemente van koshuiskultuur en –gesagsverhoudinge hou dalk hiermee verband.

“Ek is ook ten sterkste gekant teen praktyke wat studente dwing tot sekere gedrag soos byvoorbeeld gedwonge drankgebruik”.

Iets soos ‘n “pa-seun” aand is ‘n verskynsel wat by verskeie universiteite voorkom. By die UV is dit geensins deel van die oriënteringsfase van eerstejaars nie. Dit vind juis etlike weke na die ontheffing van die eerstejaars plaas. Dit is ‘n normale funksie waarin seniors en eerstejaars saam sosiaal verkeer in die seniorbonde van koshuise.

Die UV-bestuur het streng beheermaatreëls in plek om drankgebruik te reguleer en dit binne perke te hou. Baie word gedoen om die verantwoordelike gebruik van alkohol aan te moedig. Dit is egter nie altyd moontlik om die individuele gedrag van studente te reguleer nie.

Ek kondig dus die volgende stappe aan, wat onmiddellik van krag is:

  • Die reg van alle seniorbonde op die UV kampus om alkoholiese drank te bedien word onmiddellik teruggetrek, tot verdere kennisgewing.
  • ‘n Indringende ondersoek onder leiding van dr Ezekiel Moraka, Viserektor: Studentesake, na die omstandighede rondom hierdie tragiese gebeurtenis is reeds geloods.
  • ‘n Breër ondersoek na die drinkkultuur en verwante elemente van koshuistradisies sal deel van hierdie ondersoek wees.

Dissiplinêre stappe sal geneem word teen persone wat skuldig bevind word aan wangedrag met betrekking tot hierdie tragiese voorval.


Uitgereik deur: Lacea Loader
Mediaverteenwoordiger
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Sel: 083 645 2454
E-pos: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
7 Maart 2005

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