Some Interactive Coronavirus Maps

(Abbildung: © Kurzgesagt, via Our World in Data)

The media focuses on events. The news of print and tele­vi­sion are all about moments and not able to show how our world changes, how trends change. However, trends are essen­tial, espe­ci­ally with the spre­a­ding coro­na­virus pandemic. We all want to know when we can meet in person again, when work and leisure no longer need to be restricted.

The excel­lent stats-website Our World in Data from the Oxford Martin School focuses on slow but long-lasting deve­lo­p­ments. Their mission: to make data and rese­arch on the world’s largest problems under­stan­dable and acces­sible. And so it is no surprise that Our World in Data provides very helpful info graphics on the corona crisis. And they are well desi­gned. And free. Some of them are inter­ac­tive, are updated on a daily basis and can even be embedded, which I have done below.

1. Total confirmed Covid-19 cases

The follo­wing visua­li­sa­tion shows the number of total confirmed cases (in abso­lute numbers) and daily new confirmed cases for all count­ries that report their figures. The chart is inter­ac­tive. The data is shown as the world­wide figures by default but can be explored by country: just click on ⊕ Add Country within the chart. The date here reflects to the date of reporting, not neces­s­a­rily the confirmed case figures on that given day.

2. Total confirmed Covid-19 deaths

Here’s a similar visua­li­sa­tion like above, showing the number of total confirmed deaths abso­lute numbers). Also this chart is inter­ac­tive and can be explored by country: just click on ⊕ Add Country within the chart.

3. Trajectories since the 100th confirmed case

The next chart answers ques­tions like: Did the number of confirmed cases rise faster in China, Italy, South Korea, or the US? The starting point for each country is the day that parti­cular country had reached 100 confirmed cases. The grey lines show trajec­to­ries for a doubling time of 2 days and a doubling time of 3 days. Countries that follow a steeper rise have seen a doubling time faster than that.

This visua­li­sa­tion is also inter­ac­tive, so make sure to play with the region selector in the upper right corner.

4. Healthcare capa­city: Medical doctors, beds

To respond to the pandemic, the capa­city of the health­care system if of great importance. The follo­wing two maps show the number of medical doctors and hospital beds rela­tive to the size of each country’s population.

5. The current case fata­lity rate of Covid-19

The case fata­lity rate (CFR) can help us under­stand more about the seve­rity of the disease, and how best to respond. There is no single figure of CFR for any parti­cular disease, because CFR varies by loca­tion, and is chan­ging over time.

The follo­wing chart shows the CFR for count­ries which have more than 100 confirmed cases, because CFR is a parti­cu­larly poor metric to under­stand morta­lity risk with a small sample size. We see this if we look at the trajec­tory of cases and deaths in Iran: on February 24th it had 2 confirmed cases and 2 deaths, which would have a CFR of 100%. With time its CFR begins to fall as the number of confirmed cases increases, but it’s not until it reaches hundreds of cases that the CFR falls below 20%.

Also in this inter­ac­tive graphic the data can be explored by country: just click on ⊕ Add Country.