At this point, it’s clear that nowhere in the world is safe from the reach of the novel Coronavirus that is causing the COVID-19 illness. As scientists in several countries scramble to finish line to create a vaccine for the pandemic, we’re all being asked to do our part by staying at home, as well as sanitising – regularly and thoroughly – if we absolutely have to step out of the confines of our homes.
Of course, the other thing many of us will no doubt want is information about the number of infected on a daily basis, both globally and domestically.
On that note, we’ve compiled what we think are some COVID-19 sites that we think are are both reliable, useful, and informative. Bear in mind, we use the word “reliable” rather loosely; as a biostatistics expert told The Verge, there’s a lag in the data being observed. Sometimes up to a couple of weeks. Hence, we do suggest that you manage your expectations when seeing this.
Also, we’ll be putting the links to these trackers into the subheaders, so just click them to go directly to each respective tracker.
Kini News Lab
The good people at Malaysia Kini were kind enough to create its own tracker, but instead of displaying global data, the Kini News Lab tracker is both localised and more focused on the COVID-19 cases happening within our borders.
Specifically, the tracker lists graphs for specific statistics, including the number of confirmed cases since the second wave of the outbreak in Malaysia began on 27 February. It also has a graph detailing the current number of patients currently being treated, offset by the total number of beds that are available in hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
The page also has a section that segments the total number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia. Both by states and federal territories, and the corresponding districts within each of these areas.
John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre Map
The John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre Map is perhaps one of the most detailed trackers online at the moment. The page essentially provides a world map. It displays the red zones in varying sizes, depicting the severity of the outbreak in each country.
The site also displays the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, broken down into a list of numbers per country. Thus making it easier for viewers to digest. To that end, the site also provides the number of deaths per country, as well as the total number of people who have recovered from the virus around the world.
Worldometer
Worldometer is another tracker that’s being recommended primarily due to the way it both simplifies and breaks down the number of cases COVID-19 cases around the world. The top of the site basically provides the average total of infected patients at the given time. Plus the number of active cases and patients recovered.
Scroll down further and the tracker breaks down that overall number into the affected countries. From the total daily cases of each country, right down to the number of active cases, serious and recovered cases.
91-DIVOC
If you haven’t gotten the joke, allow us to point out the obvious; the name of the tracker is simply the name COVID-19 spelt backwards. This tracker is unique in that it doesn’t just show you the number of cases per country, but also the growth and spread of the virus over the last several weeks. After the first 100 cases were detected.
Moreover, if you hover your cursor over each point of each graph, the tracker will display the number of days it’s been since the first 100 cases, the number of confirmed cases, as well as the average geometric growth of cases in said country. Based on information taken from the previous day, week and the lapsed total number of days since said 100 cases.
(Additional sources: The Verge)
