The GIS community responds to the COVID-19 crisis

As unemployment rates climb, many households face desperate situations. In many cities across the country, food banks are taking action, using maps to support their mission. The Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) launched its&nbsp;"COVID-19 Help Map" for families in need, communicating food pickup sites across the Atlanta metro region.

Italy Department of Civil Protection Dashboard

The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins university maintains a dashboard that summarizes the worldwide spread of COVID-19. It has received many millions of views.

They're&nbsp;assessing social distancing, measuring its effectiveness by comparing movement data before and during stay-at-home restrictions.

TFWM is also using data to determine which public transport lines need to stay open to enable key workers to get to work. MORE INFO TK?

They're&nbsp;modeling disease spread&nbsp;to understand where and how the disease is evolving and helping predict its future course.

They're&nbsp;determining capacity, assessing when and where hospitals are reaching or exceeding their ability to care for patients.

And they're helping to&nbsp;allocate resources so that critical supplies, such as ventilators and medications, are delivered to the locations that need them the most.

An example of a locally-focused resource, Loma Linda University Health maintains a hub serving its community.

As the COVID-19 pandemic started to spread in her state, Rebekah Jones, GIS Manager for the Florida Department of Health, quickly began to put together a dashboard providing an overview of the pandemic's impact in Florida.

Time-enabled maps reveal how infections spread over time and where organizations may want to target interventions.

The JSS Academy of Higher Education &amp; Research in Mysore maintains a dashboard summarizing COVID-19 cases.

Robert Koch Institute COVID-19 Dashboard, Germany

ArcGIS Dashboards provide efficient, graphically rich summaries of frequently updated data, and can present data at a variety of scales, from global to local. These summary pages give leaders the information they need to make critical decisions about quarantines, travel restrictions, social distancing policies, and more. They're also useful information products for broad, non-specialist audiences.

Transport for West Midlands (TFWM) has been quick to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. The organization is monitoring trends in the use of public transport as well as analyzing changes in traffic. For example, with fewer cars on the roads they have seen an increase in the average speed people are traveling.

Esri created dashboards in English, <a href="http://arcg.is/114eun0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Arabic</a>, and <a href="http://arcg.is/1zXvvX" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kurdish</a> summarizing the COVID-19 epidemic in Iraq.

In Italy, the range of decrease in travel has been 70 to 80 percent. The analysts thus chose a 70 percent reduction in distance traveled as a model for what can be expected under a total shut-down. No U.S. state has yet achieved the new cutoff, but neither has any state chosen to go into as full a quarantine as Italy.

As the many examples above help illustrate, there are many key roles GIS professionals are playing in response to this crisis.

Across the globe, people are mapping confirmed and active cases, deaths, and recoveries to identify where COVID-19 infections exist and have occurred.

COVID‑19 disproportionally affects certain demographics such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Mapping social vulnerability, age, and other factors helps responders identify, monitor, and serve at-risk groups and regions.

Understanding and responding to current and potential impacts of COVID‑19 requires awareness of the availability of medical facilities, resources, equipment, goods, and services.

An interactive map developed by Division of Geoinformatics JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysore, is providing near real-time tracking of COVID-19 cases across India


Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases in India: Dashboard by JSS AHER

Areas that are lit up in orange&nbsp;have a very high concentration of one or more of these three characteristics:&nbsp;

<li>more than 19.1% seniors age 65+ (using all population age 16+ as the base)*<li>more than 1,600 persons per square mile during the daytime (a value of 1,600 is considered "urban")</li><li>more than $2,100 per year spent on travel</li></li>

Geospatial professionals across the globe are taking action to help understand COVID-19, manage response to the disease, and slow its spread

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The Digital Heritage and Humanities Collections GIS team at the University of South Florida in Tampa developed the Florida COVID-19 Hub. The site, a collaboration among Lori Collins, research director and principal investigator; Benjamin Mittler, GIS manager, MA, GISP, lead developer and designer; Garrett Speed, GIS analyst; and several PhD and graduate students, is designed to provide a platform for visualization and data access.

"In these days of planning and contingencies, it is especially important to consider the most vulnerable among us. Ensure that those you love, and maybe even those you don’t, who are at particular risk have adequate resources and access to potential medical support."

Penn Medicine’s Predictive Healthcare Team created a new model it calls&nbsp;<a href="http://predictivehealthcare.pennmedicine.org/2020/03/14/accouncing-chime.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CHIME</a>&nbsp;(COVID-19 Hospital Impact Model for Epidemics). The model provides up-to-date estimates of how many people will need to be hospitalized, and of that number how many will need ICU beds and ventilators. It also factors social distancing policies and how they might affect disease spread.

Singapore's National Parks Board&nbsp;launched its&nbsp;"Safe Distance @ Parks" site to allow members of the&nbsp;public to check visitor levels at Singapore's major parks, gardens and&nbsp;nature areas, so that citizens can choose less crowded green spaces near them&nbsp;to exercise safely.

This tool shows the number of people in each of buildings on the National&nbsp;University of Singapore (NUS) Campus to assist in monitoring safe distancing&nbsp;measures. It aggregates real-time location information — such as where and&nbsp;when people gather — using the Wi-Fi signal strength received from thousands&nbsp;of mobile devices across campus.&nbsp;

"We wanted to provide people with a tool where they could just sort of easily land and get the resources they need to make on-the-ground decisions, but also predictively look at things. And ArcGIS Hub provided us with an easy mechanism to serve data out that way,” says Collins.

Examining age and social vulnerability in the U.S.

Identifying vulnerable populations: national

This story map includes a series of regularly-updated world maps summarizing, country by country, the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19: The First Global Pandemic of the Information Age

As the COVID-19 pandemic gained strength, scientists began creating analytical models that could quantify and predict the surge in COVID-19 cases. From that effort, a&nbsp;number of powerful models have emerged as useful tools for planning.

The City of New Haven updates its citizens with information about COVID-19.

This Costa Rica Social Security Fund provides information, maps and resources on the response to the coronavirus.

Officials in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, established a site with ArcGIS Hub when the county had its first case of COVID-19 in early March. David Long, GISP, GIS manager, explained that this initiative began with a simple story map showing the location of COVID-19 cases in the state and county, and then evolved into a full ArcGIS Hub site with maps, resources, and information on the pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the world, we’ve all become familiar with stories of social isolation and sacrifice, or the heroic healthcare professionals fighting on the front lines. A less-often told story, though, is that of the legions of geographic information systems (GIS) professionals helping to coordinate response efforts. These men and women are working day and night to map the pandemic and its many ramifications, informing decision-makers and communicating to a global audience about the extent and progression of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Legions of geographic information systems (GIS) professionals are working day and night to map the pandemic and its many ramifications.

This story map by Esri's John Nelson is an example of how demographic data can be utilized to identify and locate at-risk populations.

We've organized the story by types of response and analyses, and highlighted within each category a selection of examples, ranging in scale and coverage from global to local.

Hundreds of COVID-19 web applications have been created worldwide. Search and discover over 200 applications using this global index.

ArcGIS COVID-19 Application Index

“It’s turned into an information platform with a lot of links to resources and information, especially as we've gotten more cases. [Our residents] want to see maps, and data, and things like that,” says Long. “So, the goal of our site is to…put information out in a timely manner and showcase the power of our GIS program.”

In addition to providing general overviews, dashboards are often programmed to visualize more specific information. The Federal Emergency Management Agency maintains a dashboard that groups U.S. counties into high, medium, and low risk categories.

Critical to understanding the COVID-19 pandemic is good data. Organizations large and small are creating and managing data sets for their own use, but then going the next step: sharing data, analytical models, and techniques. Hundreds of organizations have used ArcGIS Hub to provide a central location from which data and best practices can be easily accessed, and key information quickly disseminated.

This world community of GIS specialists is tackling a host of  problems and issues, the resolution of which are vital to understanding the nature and course of the disease, preparing for its arrival in new locales, and responding to its presence in our communities.

“We estimate one in five children are in food-insecure households within our 29 service areas. That means roughly 20 percent of all children do not always know when they’ll have their next meal. —Heather Moon, public relations coordinator with ACFB.

Click through this slideshow to learn about each of the five steps

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases in India Dashboard

The Robert Koch Institute COVID-19 dashboard visualizes the spread of COVID-19 in Germany at state and district levels, and is used by experts and the general public alike.

White paper by Esri's Este Geraghty

Below you'll find a small sampling of the thousands of efforts by geospatial professionals worldwide to understand the myriad aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, to track its course, to support health workers and other responders, and to serve the public.

GIS professionals in thousands of organizations are using their skills to perform sophisticated analyses for use by professionals. At the same time, others are creating simple, accessible maps and apps for public consumption. In aggregate it's a sort of global GIS, made up of a vast mosaic of data and solutions — interconnected, interdependent, and constantly evolving as the pandemic runs its course.

"In crises such as the&nbsp;COVID-19&nbsp;pandemic&nbsp;, the&nbsp;power of localization&nbsp;is&nbsp;vital&nbsp;for understanding scenarios, simulating situations, and planning actions to&nbsp;combat and eradicate&nbsp;life-saving diseases."

A common pattern has emerged in the methods geospatial professionals are using to respond to the crisis. It can be represented as five steps to mapping the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read Allen Carroll's blog post about this story map <a href="https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/story-maps/mapping/telling-the-covid-19-gis-story/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.

“We have a very large vulnerable population, more so than any other state,” said Rebekah Jones, GIS manager for the State of Florida Department of Health. “One good thing we’ve seen so far is that the bulk of areas where that population lives haven’t been hit as hard by the virus.”

United States: This map by Esri highlights areas which have one or more of these factors: a high concentration of seniors age 65+; high expenditures on travel, and/or areas that are much more crowded during a typical weekday.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Maintaining social distancing in Singapore

They're&nbsp;analyzing risk&nbsp;by examining health and demographic data to understand where vulnerable populations are and how to serve them.

This hub provides access to rich data sources, applications, and other resources for the U.S. and the world.

Interactive web maps, dashboard apps, and story maps are being used to rapidly communicate an ever-evolving situation so everyone stays aware and can respond, personally and collectively, as the threat changes.

“The main purpose of our local coronavirus hub site is to be the official source for our community’s response to the COVID-19 epidemic. Having a one-stop-shop for all the most important local information on the response to the pandemic was very important,” says Kyle Johnson, GISP, GIS Coordinator, Delaware County GIS Department.

Click through this slideshow to see other ways the GIS community is taking action

In this video, Esri's Lauren Bennett explains the CHIME model and how it has been integrated with mapping to help facilitate analysis and provide additional insights.

The Office of <a href="https://delaware-county-indiana-coronavirus-hub-delcogis.hub.arcgis.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Delaware County, Indiana</a>, produced a COVID-19 ArcGIS Hub site managed by the Delaware County GIS Department in partnership with the Delaware County Emergency Management Agency and the Delaware County Health Department.

Within the United States alone, 300 COVID-19 applications are available. Use this resource to search and discover them.

COVID-19 U.S. Atlas

<a href="https://www.unacast.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Unacast</a>, a location data company, uses the change in average distance traveled from pre-COVID-19 days, together with data on recent visits to non-essential venues, to determine a social distancing score for each U.S. county.

COVID-19 Response: CHIME Model Introduction

GIS professionals are&nbsp;preparing data&nbsp;in the form of existing and new map layers, creating an information model for COVID-19 that can be used in many ways.

The Canton of Bern hosts a crowdsource application that invites people to regularly report their health status, whether they've been tested for COVID-19, their mobility, and other factors.

"The media and public feedback is extremely positive...we receive a lot of positive feedback every day and many thanks for making this application available to everyone."

Transport for West Midlands, UK: "Essential Services" map

Just days after her start, the Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard was launched by the governor on live national television, and within a few weeks, it had been viewed 44.7 million times.

Per lo stato di emergenza disposto dal Governo connesso all'infezione da Coronavirus, il Dipartimento della Protezione Civile ha il coordinamento nazionale degli interventi e aggiorna quotidianamente il quadro della situazione in Italia.

COVID-19 ITALIA - Desktop

Johns Hopkins University: worldwide dashboard

Esri's founder and president describes the response of the GIS community in this time of crisis.

GIS in this Time of Crisis: A Note from Jack Dangermond

Imagem’s&nbsp;COVID-19 microsite&nbsp;features more than&nbsp;15 initiatives.

The Madrid Regional Government provides comprehensive information on COVID-19 to its citizens via its hub site.

Millions of us are adjusting to a strange new reality — one that we hope will soon fade into memory. Social distancing is separating us physically. Paradoxically, it's also bringing us together, uniting us in our common effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to strive toward a return to normalcy. Similarly, the global community of geographic information systems professionals has come together in common cause, playing a vital role in our worldwide quest to conquer the pandemic and envision a brighter future.