Global covid-19 tracking

Updated daily with data provided by John Hopkins CSSE. Only confirmed cases are included, the number of actual cases could be much higher. Additionally, rates of death may be quite a bit lower than estimated above, particularly in countries that are under reporting cases.

This visualization was created using d3.js in spring 2020, as COVID-19 was initially starting to spread outside China. I was looking for an accurate, helpful, and frequently updated source of data so I could analyze for myself the severity of the pandemic and the historic and likely future trajectory of it’s spread. I was unsatisfied with other available dashboards, which tended to be clunky to interact with, designed with alarming color schemes that provoked feelings of fear regardless of what the data indicated, or shared data points that didn’t convey the full picture. Drawing on my professional background of working with healthcare data, I did a survey of available data sources and chose John Hopkin’s data set as one that was collected with appropriate rigor, was updated daily, and included the data points I personally felt would be most helpful to display.

Several iterations of the dashboard based on my personal use and user feedback improved the UI and ability to interact and explore the data, while keeping it clear and intuitive to use for a user with no background in data.