In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, many tools have emerged to track new confirmed cases of the virus from online digital maps to detailed dashboards. These tools are instrumental in the fight against this pandemic. They help public health officials coordinate response efforts and allow citizens to better understand the reach of the virus so that they can prepare accordingly.

While these maps are undoubtedly important, many initially lacked the granular scale necessary to contextualize new confirmed cases of the virus’ across large swaths of area. In large states such as California, seeing cases on a state-wide scale may be valuable to a national health official, but is not as helpful for state officials, local officials, or regular citizens. In addition, cases often skew towards larger urban areas due to their high population density at the expense of rural and suburban areas.

Press: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32243926/best-graphs-coronavirus-statistics

Additional Contributors and Advisors: Justin Chen, Miranda Luong, and Dr. Thomas Glass