The 20 Best COVID-19 Data Visualization Dashboards
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of data visualization in tracking, understanding, and responding to a fast-moving global health crisis. Over the past 3+ years, we‘ve seen an explosion of COVID-19 data dashboards spring up from governments, health organizations, universities, and media outlets around the world.
These interactive visual dashboards have allowed people from all walks of life to stay informed about the latest COVID case numbers, deaths, hospitalizations, testing, and vaccination progress. They‘ve armed policymakers with the information to make critical public health decisions. And they‘ve enabled researchers to spot trends, track virus transmission, and gauge the effectiveness of interventions.
Data visualization has been absolutely essential to our collective understanding of and response to the pandemic. Without it, we would be flying blind. COVID-19 has accelerated innovation in data viz and demonstrated its power to inform and enlighten.
In this post, we‘ll take a look at 20 of the most impactful, insightful, and innovative COVID-19 data visualization dashboards from around the world. While hundreds of coronavirus dashboards have been created, these 20 stand out for their design, features, reliability, and overall value to the public.
Let‘s dive in and see the state-of-the-art in COVID-19 data visualization:
1. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
We have to start with the iconic COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU). Launched in late January 2020, it was the first coronavirus dashboard to gain widespread public attention and use.
The Johns Hopkins dashboard set the standard for COVID-19 data visualization with its clear, accessible design and granular data down to the county level. It combines data from multiple credible sources including the WHO, CDC, ECDC, and others. Key data points elegantly visualized include:
- Cumulative confirmed cases and deaths globally
- Daily new cases and deaths
- Cases and deaths by country and US state/county
- Mortality and recovery rates
- Interactive maps displaying virus spread over time
- Critical trends like case-doubling rates
The dashboard became a go-to resource for citizens, journalists and decision-makers worldwide with billions of views. It demonstrated the urgent public need for reliable real-time outbreak data and established data visualization as the medium to deliver it.
2. WHO Coronavirus Dashboard
The World Health Organization (WHO), the leading global health authority, hosts its own authoritative COVID-19 data dashboard. It provides a high-level daily summary of the state of the pandemic worldwide.
The WHO COVID-19 dashboard delivers a clean, streamlined view of the most essential stats: total global cases, deaths, and counts by WHO region. It also allows you to drill down on any individual country to view confirmed cases and deaths over time.
The dashboard is powered by official national data submitted to the WHO, typically on a 24-hour lag. So while not real-time, it provides the most definitive "official" view of the pandemic according to global health authorities. And it presents the data with clear, easy-to-understand visualizations accessible to a general audience.
3. Worldometer COVID-19 Dashboard
Worldometer has become one of the most popular global COVID trackers thanks to its straightforward design, in-depth data, and real-time updates. The independent site aggregates official data from governments and health ministries worldwide.
The dashboard features a barrage of global and country-level stats, including total cases, deaths, recovered, active cases, testing, and more. It provides a quick, scannable view of where each country stands and allows you to dive deeper into any nation‘s trajectory.
Worldometer‘s dashboard may lack advanced visualizations, but it makes up for it with the depth and immediacy of its data. It‘s become a trusted resource for the latest official numbers on the pandemic.
4. The COVID Tracking Project
The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic was a highly respected independent data initiative that compiled and visualized detailed data on the US outbreak. While no longer active, the project provided invaluable insights during the height of the pandemic.
The Atlantic‘s dashboard featured extensive data on US testing efforts, hospitalizations, racial disparities, and long-term care facilities. It filled a critical gap in publicly available data and became a trusted nongovernmental resource on the US epidemic.
Notable visualizations included trending graphs of daily new cases, hospitalizations and deaths; testing and positivity rates; and breakdowns of key metrics by race and ethnicity. The initiative demonstrated the value of data transparency and visualization in a public health emergency.
5. Our World in Data COVID Vaccination Data
As COVID vaccines were developed and distributed, Our World in Data emerged as a leading source for global data on the vaccine rollout. Their vaccination data dashboard tracks the latest stats and visuals on vaccine administration worldwide.
The dashboard features interactive maps and charts showing total vaccinations, people fully vaccinated, and daily vaccination rates for countries around the globe. You can compare progress across nations and dive deep into any individual country‘s efforts.
Importantly, the site contextualizes vaccination data with measures like percent of population vaccinated to give a clearer picture of progress. It also allows you to see which types of vaccines are used in each country (e.g. Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, etc.)
Our World in Data‘s vaccination dashboard has provided a vital window into arguably the most important story of the pandemic‘s later phases. It reveals the stark inequities in vaccine access but also highlights the unprecedented speed of development and deployment.
6. NextStrain Real-Time Phylogenetic Tracking
NextStrain is an innovative open-source platform that uses data visualization to track the evolution and spread of pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. The scientists behind it recognized the importance of real-time genomic epidemiology in the COVID crisis.
NextStrain‘s dashboard provides a phylogenetic tree showing the genetic relationships between SARS-CoV-2 samples collected worldwide. It allows you to see the emergence and distribution of new variants and explore transmission dynamics.
While this type of visualization may not be intuitive for a general audience, NextStrain makes genome data accessible and demonstrates the power of coupling data science with data visualization. Real-time genomic surveillance will be a key part of responding to future outbreaks.
7. JHU U.S. State and County Trajectory Comparisons
Another valuable dashboard from Johns Hopkins allows you to directly compare COVID cases and deaths across US states and counties on the same graph. This enables fascinating side-by-side views of how different regions fared at the same point in time.
With this comparative visualization, you can spot the places that were hit first, hardest, or are struggling most to contain outbreaks. The trajectory comparisons reveal the virus‘s disproportionate toll on different parts of the country.
8. CovidPulse Hospital Capacity Tracking
CovidPulse is a real-time dashboard that tracks current and projected hospital capacity, ICU usage, and ventilator availability at the US state and county level. The tool was created to help hospitals and public health agencies prepare for and manage patient surges.
The dashboard provides a clear visual snapshot of hospital strain due to COVID-19. It uses a simple red/yellow/green color-coding to convey each state or county‘s capacity status. Hover over the map to see actual numbers on bed, ICU, and ventilator use and availability.
This geospatial visualization helps healthcare administrators and policy makers quickly identify areas in need of additional support and resources. In a pandemic, optimizing healthcare capacity and allocation is crucial.
9. New York Times Coronavirus Map and Data Tracker
The New York Times has maintained one of the most in-depth and visually-rich coronavirus tracking sites among major media outlets. It includes both a US and global focus with clear, thoughtfully-designed visualizations.
Some standout visuals include county-level maps of cases and deaths; a cartogram sizing states by outbreak severity; graphs detailing trends in new cases and deaths; and a breakdown of cases, hospitalizations and deaths by age groups.
The Times combines authoritative data (including its own data collection efforts) with best-in-class visual storytelling. The result is a dashboard that is informative, engaging, and accessible to a broad readership.
10. The COVID States Project Risk Survey Visualizations
The COVID States Project is a unique initiative that conducts large-scale public opinion surveys about the pandemic and visualizes the results. The multi-university collaboration provides a rare window into Americans‘ evolving views and behaviors.
Interactive charts allow you to explore survey data on topics like vaccine acceptance, mask-wearing, social distancing, and trust in government handling of the crisis. You can slice the data by key demographics like age, gender, race, education-level, and political party.
These visualizations shed light on critical human factors shaping the course of the pandemic. They help explain the vast differences in experiences and attitudes and point to the challenges of forging a unified response.
The remaining 10 COVID-19 visualization dashboards on our list are also noteworthy for their unique features, focus, or insights:
- University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) COVID-19 Projections
- Unacast Social Distancing Scoreboard
- CovidExitStrategy.org State-by-State Reopening Trends
- COVID-19 Forecast Hub Ensemble Forecasts
- Harvard Global Health Institute‘s COVID Risk Levels Dashboard
- IMHE Health Service Utilization Forecasts
- COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool by Georgia Tech
- World Bank Understanding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Through Data
- ProPublica‘s Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Visualizations
- Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 in Prisons Data Project
From revealing inequities to forecasting cases to assessing risks, these dashboards demonstrate the range of insights made possible by innovative data visualization. Each offers a unique angle on the immensely complex COVID-19 crisis.
The Future of COVID-19 Data Visualization
COVID-19 accelerated the development and adoption of data visualization by leaps and bounds. It demanded tools that could render the unprecedented scope, scale, and speed of the unfolding pandemic in terms the public could process.
Equally important was the need for dynamically updated dashboards that reflected the latest available information. Static visuals wouldn‘t suffice for a situation evolving by the hour.
The past few years have spurred incredible innovation and progress in data viz, from news media interactives to scientific genomic analysis platforms. I believe many of the advances in COVID-19 visualization are here to stay and will shape the future of the field:
- Greater use of automation and dynamically updating visuals
- More seamless combinations of data sources (health, social, economic, etc.)
- Richer and more intuitive interactive features
- Accessible and engaging visual explanations of complex topics
- Expansion of geospatial outbreak mapping and analysis
- Integration of predictive modeling and ensemble forecasting
- Focus on health equity and social determinants of health
Data visualization has been indispensable in making the pandemic tractable and intelligible for experts and citizens alike. It‘s allowed us to see the unseen enemy in our midst. Reliable, transparent, accessible COVID data viz will remain essential to ending the pandemic and preparing for future health crises.
I look forward to seeing continued innovation in the COVID-19 data visualization space. The public is hungry for tools and insights that can light the way forward.
