300 scientists ask Modi to give access to data for charting Covid-19 spread

The request for wider dissemination of the coronavirus-related data gains urgency because India is gripped by a ferocious second wave that risks creating new mutant strains

Indian scientists and medical researchers are asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow them access to data that could help study, predict, and curb the spread of the coronavirus.
 

While the Indian Council of Medical Research has granular data on all residents who’ve been tested so far, it restricts access and this database must be opened to outside experts as well, almost 300 scientists from research and teaching institutions requested in an online appeal.

“The ICMR database is inaccessible to anyone outside of the government and perhaps also to many within the government,” they wrote. “While new pandemics can have