During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been seeing organizations use GIS to track the spatial spread of cases and analyze the effectiveness of various response measures. Interactive, map-centric dashboards have been vital in sharing information with the public, while also providing access to granular information via embedded charts. Recent maps using demographic data were created to show areas that may be hardest hit due to social vulnerability and age. Whether you’re a GIS practitioner or not, the Center for GIS at Towson University hopes you find these links useful.
Maryland Department of Health Coronavirus response. This collection of resources is probably on most people’s radar already, but we like this map because it doesn’t use red!
Social Distancing Scoreboard. According to WHO and the CDC, social distancing is currently the most effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19. This interactive Scoreboard, updated daily, is built to empower organizations to measure and understand the efficacy of social distancing initiatives at the local level. If you click on a state it gives you a county breakdown.
COVID Near You. Crowdsourcing platform from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School for people to report COVID-19 symptoms and testing. You can also report no symptoms. The idea is to share information at a zip code level and help get on top of emerging hotspot areas prior to extensive testing.
Where and when local travel decreased from COVID-19 around the world. This is a blog post from Mapbox which digs into telemetry data to show how movement and local travel patterns have changed around the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Esri COVID-19 GIS Hub. Esri’s worldwide tracking dashboard uses data from the World Health Organization (WHO). If you click on a country in the list (right), you can view cases by date or cumulative cases in the chart on the left. Hover over bars or dots in the chart to view totals by date.
Esri Disaster Response Program. Esri is offering free 6 month access to ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Hub resources to support public health (and other) organizations as they map and analyze case data, and build dashboards and websites for sharing information. These sites link to a form where organizations can request assistance through Esri’s Disaster Response Program.
Smart Maps Guide COVID-19 Investigations and Actions, and Monitor Effectiveness. Blog post related to how mapping is being used to track and contain cases, anticipate areas of greater vulnerability, and measure the effectiveness of social distancing and closures.
