There are many ways to see the evolution of COVID-19 through websites, mobile devices etc.. One of them that may have gone unnoticed by you is to use the Google Maps app to see the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in your region.
Access to Google Maps
First of all we access Maps either in the mobile application or through the website https://www.google.es/maps/?hl=es. From the mobile we stand at a point on the map and click on the button marked in red. This information comes in Fig. 1.
A menu called MAP TYPE opens and we choose the COVID-19 DATA option as seen in Fig. 2. This feature is available in some countries.
Now we get the map of the region and in colors the cumulative incidence at 7 days per 100,000 inhabitants as shown in Fig 3. In the application it does not inform us what is the last day on which data has been taken.
The color coding can be seen by displaying the menu below and the explanation would be as shown in Fig. 4.
Statistics data on the coronavirus (COVID-19)
First, it’s important to note that data changes rapidly and may vary by location. In the application itself does not come the data of which is the last update, that is, we can not know if they are data from today or yesterday, or from another day.
These data fluctuate rapidly, so they may not reflect recently confirmed cases. Some data may not have been published.
Inclusion of confirmed and probable cases
Total counts include confirmed and probable cases from some locations. Public health service officials identify probable cases and use criteria developed by government authorities. This data is processed by Google and provided by official institutions of each state.
Positive tests are shown, which differ from positive cases
The number of positive tests may not be equal to the number of positive cases because of the differences that may exist between the included locations. It is also common for a person to take more than one test. These data come from the results of the polymerase chain reaction, known as PCR, and antigen tests. These are the most widely used tests in the world for the detection of the Sars-Cov-2 virus.
Origin of Google Maps data
The data comes from Wikipedia, government departments of health, The New York Times and other authoritative sources, as indicated. Therefore, they are official data and can serve to have a view quite close to the reality of the incidence of an area.
Data may differ from officials
There are several sources that record and aggregate data about the coronavirus. These sources update the information at different times and may use different methods to obtain the data. Therefore, what we see on Maps may differ from the official ones.
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