I’ve been fascinated by the state-by-state, county-by-county map posted and updated:
US Health Weather Map by Kinsa
Looking at this map, it seems that there are multiple hot spots on the horizon.
The New York metro region, Washington State show the hot spots that we already hear about regularly on the news.
But, Florida is lit up just as much or even more.
You can also see the trouble around Alabama and Atlanta. Newer problem areas are arising around Houston, Salt Lake City, the Carolinas (particularly South Carolina). You can see Michigan is getting hit. Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania are redder. Arizona is getting darker. Indiana and Tennessee seem to be turning darker as well.
In non-technical terms (as I am not scientifically technical), the map is driven by human temperature statistics gathered and reported by a smartphone app that captures the data. From this data, they can show state by state, county by county, where the number of people with fevers are higher than expected for this time of year. Essentially, they back out regular flu season trends to identify “atypical” trends. This can point to where COVID-19 is hot or likely to become hot, even before the actual COVID-19 tests confirm cases.
While the website creators offer caveats about their method, anectdotally, it does seem to be tracking what we’re seeing on the news.
I saw this on Rachel Maddow’s show earlier this week. It was also written up in the New York Times.
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