About COVID-19 Myanmar Project

Initiated by Dr. Nyein Chan Ko Ko in early 2020, this community-driven initiative emerged as Myanmar's first comprehensive COVID-19 tracking dashboard. Inspired by Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus dashboard, the project started as an individual effort but quickly grew into a collaborative community project that would not have been possible without the dedicated support of volunteers who contributed data, verified information, and maintained the system.

What began as a simple Google spreadsheet tracking Myanmar's first suspected case on January 31, 2020, evolved into a sophisticated dashboard through the collective efforts of 22+ volunteers. This community collaboration made it an essential resource for researchers, developers, and the public throughout the pandemic, providing detailed case data when official sources only offered cumulative numbers.

2
Years Active
22+
Contributors
Jan 2020
Started
Daily
Updates

Project Timeline

December 2019

First awareness of coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. Initially didn't receive much attention as it wasn't the first outbreak news.

January 22, 2020

Johns Hopkins University announced first coronavirus dashboard. This inspired the idea to create a similar tracking system for Myanmar before the pandemic reached the country.

January 29, 2020

First version of dashboard created with Google Data Studio. A simple one-page dashboard with basic metrics.

January 31, 2020

Myanmar announced first suspected case. Project started Google spreadsheet data collection with date, age, sex, location, hospital, and reference links.

February 4, 2020

Dashboard publicly launched at covidmyanmar.com and m.covidmyanmar.com for mobile. Featured comprehensive filtering options not available elsewhere.

February 2020

Ministry released official ArcGIS dashboard 5 days after this project launched. However, it lacked the filtering capabilities that made this project unique.

March 2020

Volunteer contributors began joining the project. Community collaboration started expanding data collection and verification processes.

March 11, 2020

WHO declared COVID-19 pandemic. Project became increasingly critical as Myanmar faced growing case numbers and public demand for accurate data.

2020 to mid 2021

Community-driven continuous daily updates, network chart creation (nc.covidmyanmar.com), and volunteer coordination. Project sustained through collective volunteer effort across Myanmar.

Project Impact & Recognition

Through the collective efforts of volunteers and community contributors, the COVID-19 Myanmar project became a critical resource during Myanmar's pandemic response:

Community-Driven Technical Innovation

Through collaborative volunteer efforts, this project overcame significant technical and data challenges:

Project Screenshots & Visuals

Screenshots showcasing the dashboard evolution and key features during the pandemic:

COVID-19 Myanmar Dashboard - March 2020
Dashboard in March 2020 - Early pandemic tracking
COVID-19 Myanmar Dashboard - May 2020
Dashboard in May 2020 - Enhanced visualizations
COVID-19 Myanmar Network Chart
Network chart showing case relationships and transmission patterns
COVID-19 Myanmar Project Featured in Thailand Ministry of Health
Project featured in Thailand Ministry of Health documentation

Contributors & Volunteers

Special thanks to all who contributed to this project:

Research & Publications Using This Project

During the active pandemic period (2020-2021), the COVID-19 Myanmar dashboard and dataset were used by researchers, organizations, and institutions. While many pandemic-era projects have since become inactive, some references remain accessible:

Note: Many COVID-19 community projects and resources from 2020-2021 are no longer actively maintained, reflecting the natural lifecycle of pandemic response initiatives.

Data Sources & Methodology

The project pioneered innovative data collection methods during Myanmar's early pandemic response: