Maps
Heatmap Video Shows the Migration of New Coronavirus Cases Over Time
Today’s new animated heatmap comes to us from City-Data.com and follows the trends of new confirmed coronavirus cases around the United States over time. The animation was created using Leaflet.js, Folium Python library, and Monosnap and was shared by a member of the City-Data team on Reddit who goes by the name /u/absurddreams. All data was sourced from the New York Times. Check it out below:
It’s no secret that an early epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States was New York City. As we now know, even though the virus itself originated in China, the origin of the major outbreak in New York has been traced to travelers from Europe. In the first few months of 2020, millions of travelers came to the U.S. from Europe through major NYC-area airports such as John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
A Time Line of Notable Trends:
- As the animation begins to unfold, a few hotspots begin to emerge, the most obvious of which is the aforementioned NYC area.
- As the end of April comes to pass, a number of pockets throughout the Central United States are visible, but the Northeastern United States are still dominate.
- However, when mid-May arrives, New York and the rest of the Northeast have faded significantly.
- By mid-June, new COVID-19 cases in the Northeast are negligible, almost completely gone, and the worst zones have shifted to Southern states where several growing pockets have emerged.
- As the clock dials around to present day (July 7th) the Southern states, particularly from eastern Texas to South Carolina, are inundated with new coronavirus cases.
The unfortunate and alarming surge in cases across the Southern and even Western states is likely an unfortunate side effect of states failing to impose lockdowns and guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus early on.
The sharp decline in New York and Northeast COVID-19 cases has been attributed to the comprehensive stay-at-home orders, face mask requirements, social distancing guidelines, etc. that were organized by those states. They have flatted the curve for now, but the pandemic is far from over.
As of the date of this publication, this video was last updated on July 8, 2020. See this video and other great visualizations on the City-Data.com COVID-19 graphs and animations page.