Implementation and use of a national electronic dashboard to guide COVID-19 clinical management in Fiji

PROBLEM: From April to September 2021, Fiji experienced a second wave of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) precipitated by the Delta variant of concern, prompting a need to strengthen existing data management of positive COVID-19 cases. CONTEXT: With COVID-19 cases peaking at 1405 a day and many hospital admissions, the need to develop a better way to visualize data became clear. ACTION: The Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs collaborated to develop an online clinical dashboard to support better visualization of case management data. OUTCOME: The dashboard was used across Fiji at national, divisional and local levels for COVID-19 management. At the national level, it provided real-time reports describing the surge pattern, severity and management of COVID-19 cases across the country during daily incident management team meetings. At the divisional level, it gave the divisional directors access to timely information about hospital and community isolation of cases. At the hospital level, the dashboard allowed managers to monitor trends in isolated cases and use of oxygen resources. DISCUSSION: The dashboard replaced previous paper-based reporting of statistics with delivery of trends and real-time data. The team that developed the tool were situated in different locations and did not meet physically, demonstrating the ease of implementing this online tool in a resource-constrained setting. The dashboard is easy to use and could be used in other Pacific island countries and areas.