Using BigQuery and Datastudio to Debunk Coronavirus Myths
A real-time data visualization project by Manceps
As misinformation and rumor continue to swirl around the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to create a series of charts to see if it would be possible to identify any previously-unnoticed trends. By combining health data from the WHO, climate data from NOAA, and World Development Indicators from the World Bank, we were able to discover some fascinating correlations.
Explore the Coronavirus charts here. →
Some Interesting Discoveries
- America has more coronavirus cases than any other country on earth. However, this is mainly due to the fact that America is larger. Our per-capita case numbers are roughly equivalent to other western countries in Europe and our Corona-related death rate is actually lower than those of developed European nations.
- Many have theorized that warmer temperatures will lead to a reduction in confirmed cases; however, by banding confirmed cases by average temperature, we were unable to identify a relationship between weather and new cases.
- The average mortality rate across all nations is roughly the same, regardless of each country’s wealth. If anything, the world’s poorest countries are having better health outcomes than wealthier nations. This may, in part, be skewed by the fact the wealthier nations are testing more of its citizens.
- Wealthier nations tend to travel more, which may partially explain why they are seeing higher cases of coronavirus. We can see this across multiple charts, including charts that correlate over-all life expectancy with corona mortality rates.
International Impact
In this chart, we mapped the prevalence of confirmed cases, recovered patients, and deaths. If you click on the gear icon, you can view the maps across total, per capita, and population density metrics. In terms of raw numbers, you can see that America is clearly at the top. However, by looking at it per capita, we can see that the US’s case rate is similar to that of Europe.
Confirmed Cases by Average National Temperature
Here, we attempted to validate whether average temperature is correlated to the spread of the virus. We grouped by latitude, longitude buckets so that we could look at temperature effects independent of countries. Many have theorized that warmer temperatures will lead to a reduction in confirmed cases; however, these charts seem to indicate that there is not a relationship.
Growth Rate By National Economies
We were curious to see whether national economies could be correlated to the number of corona virus cases. As these charts seem to indicate, wealthier nations tend to have higher numbers of cases (and deaths) per capita. Presumably, poorer nations aren’t testing as often as wealthier ones, which may skew the information presented in these charts.
Growth Rate By National Health Indicators
One way to score overall healthcare systems is to look at each country’s infant and overall mortality rates. In the first row of charts, we can see a clear pattern that seems to suggest that nations with better functioning healthcare systems have more cases of corona. Again, this could be related to the availability of testing. In the second row of charts, the correlation becomes less clearly defined.
This project was produced by Manceps. To learn more about our AI work in the healthcare industry, consider this case study:
