By MIT Governance Lab

As Covid-19 continues to spread, governments in West Africa have been working to meet the virus head-on. In Sierra Leone, the government took measures back in January to quarantine all travelers from countries reporting Covid-19 cases and travelers with high temperatures. With limited public health infrastructure, slowing the spread has been critical to protecting their population of nearly 8 million. In late March, Sierra Leone confirmed the first case in-country, put in place a temporary lockdown, and convened development partners for Covid-19 preparedness and response. 

A successful response to Covid-19 requires not only financial and technical resources, but also the efficiency and insights that real-time data bring to the process.