published on 16 March – 2020
Top 4 websites to get live tracking on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The rapid spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) took over social media, news platforms, blog articles and sponsored ads. With so much information available, it can become difficult to know which sources to follow. That’s why we put together 4 websites that will keep you up to date with the latest news on COVID-19, the reports and the spread of the virus. We also took a look at the type of content and how it is presented, as well as the overall user experience.
Quick Links
1. Coronavirus (COVID-19) by CSSE at Johns Hopkings University (JHU)
- A daily updated live map with Coronavirus Spread, all confirmed cases, deaths and recoveries
2. Coronavirus Map – by The New York Times
- A daily updated map, lists for each country and information about the quarantine for travelers
3. Mapping the novel coronavirus outbreak
- An interactive map, with a dynamic representation of how the virus began spreading
4. Situation Reports – by the World Health Organization
- Daily reports with all the news, recommendations, statistics and lists
A daily updated live map with coronavirus spread, all confirmed cases, deaths and recoveries.
This map provides concise information on the spread of the virus. Updated daily by Johns Hopkins University, the latest available data is presented in dashboards. The information is categorized in Total Confirmed cases and their representation by country, the Total Deaths and the Total Recovered. The interactive map shows a visual representation of the affected regions, completed by a graphic of the overall statistics of the COVID-19 spread.
With all the information available at first glance, the website offers relevant information in an easy and accessible way. All data can be further detailed with a simple click on the information of interest. The page lacks responsiveness on mobile devices, as the dashboard resizes and makes it difficult to read – a huge minus for the mobile users. Overall, due to its ease of use and functionality on pc and laptops, the user experience of this live map rises to the expectations of those looking for quick and concise reports.
A daily updated map, lists for each country and information about the quarantine for travelers
New York Times version of the map offers a more general overview of the COVID-19 spread, with the approximate number of the confirmed cases on each affected country. In orange, you’ll find the countries recommended against non-essential travel by C.D.C. The page offers a more detailed graph on travel recommendation per country.
After an overall introduction on the effects of the virus, the content moves forward to address the particular situation in the USA, Asia and Europe, ending the article with basic recommendations for health measures during this time.
Compared to the two other regions presented, the New York Times is much more invested in providing accurate information about every confirmed case in the United States. The map of the confirmed cases for the US shows the available data per state. To support this effort, they are collecting information from federal, state and local officials 24/7. This is not surprising considering its main audience is in the US.
The content presented on New York Times is of general nature, although it provides external links to in-depth articles around each point of interest, such as a compelling article about ‘How can you prepare for the coronavirus outbreak’ – a recommended read. While relevant and up to date, the page resembles a lot to a blog article, which might affect readers perception of its real-time accurateness. Navigation wise, one would need to scroll quite a lot, if say, they are interested in the confirmed cases in Europe, which is towards the end of the page. User experience lacks a little bit, but that’s not to disregard the relevance of the content. The mobile users are unable to see detailed information on the world map, but apart from that, their experience will be smooth.
An interactive map, with a dynamic representation of how the virus began spreading
Powered by Esris, the interactive map on StoryMaps has its main source of information from the Johns Hopkins University. The data is presented in a minimalistic way, with details available when clicking the orange circle on a country. The map is updating live, tracking real-time changes of the confirmed cases. The page offers detailed information about the virus and the health measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO.)
How the coronavirus spread – An awesome graphic map representation
A second ,,map” is an interactive visual representation of how coronavirus spread across the globe. The map starts in the city of Wuhan, China and it zooms out as you scroll to read the information of the COVID-19 spread. The side text is segmented with buttons that realign the map to point to the subjects presented in the text
The article wraps up with measures taken by different health and government officials in order to prevent the further spread of coronavirus. The website presents both a live-tracking news regarding COVID-19, as well as an interactive explanation of how the virus spread across the globe. While the dynamic elements determine a longer engagement, they also slow down the loading time of the page.
The latter negatively impacts the user experience, especially the ones looking to find information fast. The experience is not as complete on mobile devices, with some of the graphs not showing or opening in a new tab. Nonetheless, it is a great article to get an overall understanding of coronavirus.
Daily reports with all the news, recommendations, statistics and lists.
The World Health Organization provides comprehensive reports about the COVID-19 situation. Updated daily, they record the total and new cases globally in the last 24h, both in China and outside.
What useful information can you find in the reports?
The number of confirmed cases is visually represented on a map, with further surveillance data presented in tables. Such tables comprise of confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19 reported by provinces, regions and cities. It also provides more in-depth data, such as transmission classification and days since last reported case.
The reports also offer information regarding preparedness and response undertaken by WHO, along with recommendations and advice for the general public.
WHO’s website is great for the reader looking for in-depth information about the coronavirus situation. However, from a web design perspective, the user experience is fairly bland, with articles opening in pdf format in another tab on all devices.
There are plenty sources out there to keep you up to date with the latest news on the coronavirus spread, depending on the information you’re looking for. While it is important to be informed, don’t forget that is important to keep calm and follow the recommendations provided by health organizations.