Mapping the novel coronavirus pandemic

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By the time the quarantine had been implemented there, an estimated 5 million people who were potentially exposed to the virus had already left Wuhan, complicating efforts to contain the virus.

On January 23, authorities placed Wuhan under quarantine, suspending all flights, trains, and long-haul buses into and out of the city. The World Health Organization commended the move, which was unprecedented in its scale.

See the latest statistics on coronavirus cases and fatalities around the globe.

Dashboard: Tracking the coronavirus in realtime

High-speed railways (2016)

On January 13, health officials in Thailand reported the first case of the novel coronavirus outside of mainland China. Within weeks, the virus had spread to dozens of other countries in Asia.

Wuhan is a major transit hub for the region, with direct connections to dozens of other cities in China. The coronavirus outbreak coincided with the lunar new year, the most popular time of the year for domestic travel.

Gardner's outlook is somewhat sobering: Outbreaks like this "should be expected to happen more frequently moving forward," she says. In other words, it isn't a question of if another outbreak will occur, but when.

The United States reported its first coronavirus case on January 20, in Washington State. In late February, officials at a Seattle-area hospital reported two deaths, marking the first known coronavirus fatalities in the U.S.

By the end of January, authorities had enforced transportation restrictions in at least 15 additional cities in Hubei Province. Together, over 57 million people in China have been affected by the quarantines—more than the entire populations of Colombia or South Korea.

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Despite widespread fears about the severity of the outbreak, public health experts have called for calm. "It is important to know how to distinguish between the advice and information coming from public health authorities and scientists, versus the misinformation that is instigating unnecessary fear," says Lauren Gardner, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University who is tracking the spread of the outbreak.

"It is important to know how to distinguish between the advice and information coming from public health authorities and scientists, versus the misinformation that is instigating unnecessary fear."

Epidemiologists have traced the likely source of the outbreak to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in downtown Wuhan, where they believe the virus was initially transmitted from animals to humans.

The first fatality outside of China was reported in Philippines on February 1.

The novel coronavirus belongs to the same family of viruses as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/sars/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)</a>. The disease it causes, COVID-19, produces mild symptoms in most people, but can also lead to severe respiratory illness.

For now, the best way to guard against the disease is to commit to basic practices of daily hygiene. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/about/prevention.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recommends</a> washing your hands with soap thoroughly and regularly, avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, and minimizing social contact if the coronavirus is spreading in your community.

It may take months, if not years, for the full impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak to be known. But epidemiologists caution that this is likely not an isolated incident, and rather part of a growing trend. According to Gardner, there are a number of forces driving this pattern, including rapid urbanization and increased contact between humans and animals.

This article was produced by Esri's <a href="https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-storymaps/overview" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">StoryMaps</a> team using <a href="https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-storymaps/overview" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ArcGIS StoryMaps</a>, with support from Lauren Gardner and her colleagues at the <a href="https://systems.jhu.edu/research/public-health/ncov/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE)</a> at Johns Hopkins University.

This map: High-speed rail (2016) and domestic flights into and out of Wuhan (2018).

Since December 2019, more than 6 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide, according to official and unofficial statistics <a href="https://systems.jhu.edu/research/public-health/ncov/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">compiled</a> by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic has led to over 375,000 deaths globally, and disrupted the lives of hundreds of millions.

This map: Quarantined cities in Hubei Province, scaled by population.

Coronavirus cases and fatalities

But the novel coronavirus also appears to be less dangerous than other coronaviruses, and most people who contract COVID-19 do not become seriously ill.

This map: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Asia.

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This map: Population density in and around Wuhan.

Compared to SARS and MERS, COVID-19 has spread strikingly fast: While MERS took two and a half years to infect 1,000 people, and SARS took roughly four months to hit that figure, COVID-19 reached 1,000 cases in just 48 days. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, underscoring the speed and tenacity with which the virus has spread.

Since the outbreak of the virus, cases have been recorded in every province-level subdivision in China. The cases are concentrated in Hubei Province, but other jurisdictions have also reported sustained local transmission.

This map: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States.

A repository of authoritative, up-to-date GIS data and resources collected by a several of global organizations.

COVID-19 GIS Hub

The maps and charts in this story are updated daily. For the latest guidelines on coronavirus prevention and mitigation, please visit the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="sm-text-color-637a7a">CDC's</a> or <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="sm-text-color-637a7a">WHO's</a> information pages.

The coronavirus outbreak began in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province and the largest city in central China with a population of around 11 million.

A realtime count of reported coronavirus cases and deaths. 

Coronavirus cases and deaths

This map: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in China.