Johns Hopkins University’s global COVID-19 tracker, which has served as a valuable tool for tracking the coronavirus since the map was publicly released in January, is getting a $200,000 injection of federal funding.
Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, and Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger and John P. Sarbanes, Democrats who represent Maryland, made the announcement Wednesday.
“Accurate, real-time information about the spread of COVID-19 in each and every community is critical for our response to the pandemic. The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard remains the foremost tracking resource for public health experts and policymakers nationwide,” the lawmakers said in a release. “We are committed to delivering sustained federal support to this important project.”
“The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reflects our University’s foundational commitment to providing sound data and expert analysis to the world. It is a collaboration between our leading public health experts, engineers and data scientists designed to inform sound policy and save lives in communities in Maryland and around the globe,” Johns Hopkins President Ronald J. Daniels said in the release.
“We are profoundly grateful to the National Science Foundation and to our Baltimore City Congressional delegation who have long championed the indispensable role that universities like Johns Hopkins play in advancing human flourishing and serving our nation,” Daniels said.
The money was awarded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act by way of the National Science Foundation, which was authorized to spend $75 million to prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally, including to fund research grants and other necessary expenses, according to the release.
The goal of the federal funding is to support system maintenance and improvements, including increasing the geographical specificity of data, potentially to the city level.
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