This map reflects the total outbreak-associated cases in schools on October 6, 2021. This is an update of the September 9, 2021 map.
Tag: location map
I modified one of the Amcharts demos called map with curved lines to make a Maryland map with lines. I want to show how students transfer among colleges at universities in the state using a map. I have successfully created the base map, but I have not yet figured out how to add a stroke width to the lines. I think it would be interesting to have the thickness of the line represent the number of students that transferred. I want to see if location is a factor in transferring.
I have read through the Amcharts documentation, but I still can not figure out how to change the stroke width for each individual line. I did figure out how to change the width for all of the lines at the same time, but that is not what I want to do. I noticed when I made the lines thicker the map looked really messy, so this idea might not get off the ground even if I figure out the technical details. The issue is while I am pretty good at figuring out technical issues I do not have a strong foundation in using javascript libraries. I have an 11 hour YouTube video that I am planning on watching to build a stronger foundation, but I have not yet made the time to watch it. I keep on spending my time trying out new ideas on visualizing data. I have so many data visualizations I would like to build, I need more hours in the day to build them all. I hope I will get quicker with time
Maryland Map with Lines
If I decided to go this route I just need to take the time to enter the names and longitudes and latitudes of all of the institutions. For this map I just googled the institution and “longitude and latitude”; however, I just discovered the U.S. Department of Education College ScoreCard data download has longitude and latitude information. In the future I will try using the ScoreCard longitude and latitude information.
This is the September 22, 2022 update to a trend map I first made with the September 1, 2022 data.
This map reflects the total outbreak-associated cases in schools on September 22, 2021. This is an update of the September 15, 2021 map.
Anne Arundel County County Public Schools published data today regarding COVID cases in public schools. Their reporting metrics are different than those reported by the State. I decided to map and publish it. I have not yet checked the data. I need to publish the data to check it.
Default Dot Size
Smallest Dot Size
After playing with the map a bit I decided that the dots were rather overwhelming, so I shrunk them to their smallest possible size. The dots size for the other maps was the default size. I will need to remember to consider dot size in the future.
Notes
These notes are from Anne Arundel County
1. The tables on this page reflect positive cases, confirmed by testing, with an onset date of September 8, 2021, or later that have been made known to Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Schools/Offices with zero student or staff cases do not appear in the tables. The data also includes cases of COVID-like symptoms in which a person is not tested for a period of 48 hours after onset of symptoms, and probable cases, which occur when an individual with COVID-like symptoms is found to have close contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive. Such cases are treated as if they are positive for COVID-19 in terms of identification of close contacts and potential exposures. Cases that appear on this dashboard and are later determined to be false positives or the like will be deleted in subsequent updates.
2. An “active case” is one in which the individual who tested positive is still under 10-day quarantine.
3. A positive case, COVID-like symptoms case, or probable case does not mean the individual exposed others at school or work, or that the individual contracted the virus at school or work.
4. Students enrolled in virtual-only learning and who are not part of any extracurricular activities are not included in this data.
5. Due to differences in reporting methodology, this information may not match the data presented by the Maryland Department of Health.
The Anne Arundel County Public Schools data will be updated each Wednesday.
I learned how to create a map with only Anne Arundel County, which required me to find a JSON geofile of Anne Arundel County and convert it to the correct file format. It works, I hope I’m allowed to use the files I used to make the base map. I think I will be able to add other Anne Arundel County open data to the map in the future. I added the Anne Arundel County school-associated cases to the map to see if it rendered correctly. It does.
I’m not sure why the bottom of the map is cut off. I will have to explore that issue next.
Out of curiosity, I updated the school outbreak-associated cases map to reflect the data as reported by the Maryland Health Department on September 15, 2021.
Update
After my experiment using smaller dot sizes, I updated this map to also have the smallest dot sizes. I think it is easier to read.
I added in the private schools for the September 8, 2021 data release about outbreak-associated cases in schools and then mapped it. This map shows Maryland public and private schools with outbreak-associated cases on September 8, 2021, as defined by the Maryland Health Department. Information about the trend of the number of cases at each school from September 1, 2021, is shown in the tooltips. As for the public schools, my Excel “database” should be ready for the next release of data on September 15, 2021. And I should be able to quickly create a number of related maps. I may choose to make a color-coded trend map like I did for the public schools for the September 8, 2021 data.
As with the other map I googled the addresses for the private schools. Then Datawrapper mapped the schools. I assume based on my knowledge of the locations of some of the schools that the locations are generally correct, but I have not checked them. These maps are only for my own learning about the software and data visualization. I am trying to get a sense of which type of data visualizations are most useful and engaging. After I make the maps and visualizations I test interacting with them on my computer, tablet, and phone. I have found that some data visualizations behave differently on different devices.
In line with my interest in masking policies in public schools, I decided to map outbreak-associated cases in schools as reported by the Maryland Department of Health to check out the geolocation mapping feature of Datawrapper. As far as using the geolocation, it was super easy. I googled the address and pasted it into the correct box. I assume that the locations are generally accurate. It seems less precise than ArcView, but it seems to work well for when you are just trying to get a sense of the data. It did not that too long to enter the data for this number of locations. It would take a while if there were more locations. It would be much quicker if I had a spreadsheet with all the addresses of schools in the State pre-made and ready to go. I believe that there might be an official list of the public schools available. If I were to do this in the future I would explore using that existing spreadsheet.
I wish that I could add a choropleth map behind the location map to add another level of data details. I know it can be done with Arcview. But what you gain in usability you lose in features.
If you are wondering like I was about the outbreak at Quince Orchard when the school is not even open yet. The answer was found in this news article. Apparently, there was an outbreak in the football team which I assume has started practicing for the fall season.
Notes About the Data
These notes are copied from the Maryland Department of Health website.
Note: This dataset reflects public and non-public K-12 schools in Maryland that have COVID-19 outbreaks. Data are based on local health department reports to MDH, which may be revised if additional information becomes available. This list does not include child care facilities or institutes of higher education. Schools listed meet 1 or more of the following criteria:
Classroom/cohort outbreak definition: 1) At least two confirmed COVID-19 cases among students/teachers/staff within a 14-day period and who are epidemiologically linked, but not household contacts; or
School-wide outbreak definition:
2) Three or more classrooms or cohorts with cases from separate households that meet the classroom/cohort outbreak definition that occurs within 14 days; or
3) Five percent or more unrelated students/teachers/staff have confirmed COVID-19 within a 14 day period (minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff).
Cases reported reflect the current total number of cases. Schools are removed from the list when health officials determine 14 days have passed with no new cases and no tests pending. Archival data is available through the COVID-19 open data catalogue. These data are updated weekly on Wednesdays during the 10 a.m. hour. MDH is continuously evaluating its data and reporting systems and will make updates as more data becomes available.
I pulled data at noon on August 25, 2021, to make the above map. As I discuss locations are approximate. I provided the information on whether a school is public or private. All errors are my own. This map is not official, it is primarily for the purpose of me exploring the visualization features and keeping track of what I learned.
