Country database of infected person information Some data could not be grasped 20:54 on August 26
According to an interview with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the country is unable to grasp data such as "onset date" and "occupation" after changing the system in the national database that aggregates information on people infected with the new coronavirus. understood. Experts point out that the data is indispensable for identifying trends in infections and taking countermeasures, and should be improved immediately.
At issue is the HER-SYS information system that the country has been introducing since May this year in local governments nationwide.
A system in which various information about infected persons is entered by medical institutions and public health centers, and is centrally managed by the national government. It is used by almost all local governments operating public health centers.
However, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it was found that the country could not grasp the data because the system is still under maintenance and the aggregation function cannot be used.
The data that cannot be grasped are data such as "onset date" and "occupation", which have been used until now when analyzing the spread of infection.
“The data is important for knowing when, where, and to whom the infection spread, and is essential for understanding trends in the infection,” said Cheongju Taniguchi, clinical research director at the National Hospital Organization Mie Hospital, who is familiar with the analysis of infectious diseases. If we can't analyze it, we can't connect to countermeasures and we need to improve it immediately."
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, "We are aware of the problem, but we are collecting information on infected people from the websites of local governments, etc., and we can roughly understand the situation of the epidemic. It has not led to delay in infection control." I will.