Georgia state government pandemic maps disguise skyrocketing cases, especially in rural areas - Entrepreneur Generations

Georgia Department of Public Health maps

Georgia's Department of Public Health was criticized in May for posting inaccurate or misleading data on covid-19 case counts, death counts, and other measures critical in tracking the pandemic. But on Sunday a Twitter user out of Atlanta known as "Georgia Person" tweeted that covid-19 cases in the state jumped 49 percent in 15 days, but that state-published maps disguise that fact in several ways.

First, he noted, the the maps' color key (see top) is all blue except for the very worst cases, which are bright red. That makes it look like only the red counties are in serious trouble. A graduated color scheme with only shades of the same color would show the data more clearly, he and others in the discussion argue. One contributor created their own version of the map with a graduated color scheme that shows the progression of cases more clearly.

He also notes that the values for each color change because it's set up in quintiles. There will always be six colors on the map, but the values that each color represents shifts because of the rising number of cases. For example, in the July 2 map, red counties have between 2,961 and 4,661 cases per 100,000 residents. But on the July 17 map, red counties have between 3,769 and 5,165 cases per 100,000.

The state government's website says the charts are "meant to aid understanding whether the outbreak is growing, leveling off, or declining and can help to guide the covid-19 response." Georgia Person argued that, by not formatting the maps to show the increase in cases, the state is abdicating its responsibility to highlight important information, whether it was done by poor design or with malicious intent.

Rural areas of Georgia have been particularly hard-hit, especially counties with majority African-American populations. Rural African-Americans are more vulnerable to dying from covid-19.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/3jqhlzX Georgia state government pandemic maps disguise skyrocketing cases, especially in rural areas - Entrepreneur Generations

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