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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

UFS receives record number of applications
2011-12-31

The University of the Free State (UFS) is looking forward to the start of the new academic year in January 2012, when thousands of new students will be joining the Kovsie family.

The UFS received almost 13 000 applications for studies in 2012. This is an increase of about 80% compared to the total number of applications received in 2010 for studies in 2011.

This increase is partly attributed to the university’s new method in approaching prospective students and the marketing initiatives followed during 2011. These included visits to various schools in the country by the Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof. Jonathan Jansen.

“This shows that the UFS is becoming a preferred place of study. Unfortunately, we can only take in about 4 000 first-years from these applications. We will, of course, choose the best and most diverse class of students,” says Prof. Jansen.

The university’s marketing initiatives will be intensified next year where students will take part as ambassadors in the university’s student recruitment campaigns for 2013.

Mr.Rudi Buys, The Dean of Student Affairs at the UFS, says Prof. Jansen’s visit to various schools in the country was very successful. This will be continued in 2012 and student leaders from residences, associations as well as the Student Representative Council will accompany him on these visits during the course of the year.

“These learners, just like our students, are part of a new generation of new democratic South Africans. Our students are excellent examples of youth leadership in the country and we are very excited about all our initiatives,” Mr Buys said.

The UFS is aware of the fact that learners will only receive their final Grade 12 results in January 2012. Final admission will therefore only be granted upon the submission of a certified copy of the matriculation results. Fax these results to 086 586 8947 or e-mail to applications@ufs.ac.za  as soon as it is available.

Important dates for Bloemfontein students

  • Friday and Saturday 13 & 14 January 2012: Welcoming of new first-years
  • Sunday 15 January: Gateway College life programme (Bloemfontein edition) begins)
  • Monday 16 January 2012: Registration starts 

Important dates for Qwaqwa students

  • Thursday 12 January 2012: Arrival of first-years
  • Friday 13 January 2012: Gateway College Life programme (Qwaqwa edition) begins.
  • Monday 16 January 2012: Registration starts

For more information, Bloemfontein students can contact Student Affairs at 051 401 9102 or send an e-mail to Cornelia Faasen at faasenc@ufs.ac.za . Qwaqwa students can contact Dulcie Malimabe at 058 718 5018 or send an e-mail to malimabedp@qwa.ufs.ac.za  

Media Release
Issued by:
Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Telephone: +27 (0) 51 401 2584
+27 (0) 83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 (0) 51 444 6393
Web: www.ufs.ac.za
 

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