The death toll from the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has exceeded 1,000, with over 42,000 infected.
On January 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the outbreak a health emergency.
As the virus spreads and people start to panic, experts have created several tools that are useful for tracking the spread of the infection.
Some use data from WHO and the Centers for Disease Control to track outbreaks and recoveries, while others target only a Chinese audience and aim to fight infection by helping people track who they may have come into contact with.
Using these tools, along with preventive measures such as washing hands and avoiding contact with sick people, can slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The outbreak originated in December in Wuhan, China and is currently present in at least 26 countries. Experts now call the spread of the virus a 'mild pandemic' and it is possible that it could become a permanent virus, akin to seasonal flu.
Here are five tools to track the spread of the coronavirus.
- Johns Hopkins CSSE map.
(Johns Hopkins)
This online dashboard from Johns Hopkins uses data from CDC and WHO to track the outbreak in real time.
Johns Hopkins CSSE map is available here.
- Health Map.
(Health Map)
The map also tracks outbreaks of the virus, but uses artificial intelligence to process messages from news sites and social media to create a heatmap of the virus that can be useful to healthcare professionals.
The map is available here.
- Coronavirus application.
(Coronavirus app)
The application is available here.
- Baidu map.
Chinese search engine Baidu has created an epidemic map along with its regular map, which shows in real time the locations of confirmed and suspected cases of coronavirus outbreaks.
Baidu Map is available here.
- Chinese route check.
A Chinese cybersecurity firm has created a tool that allows people to check flight or train numbers to see if they have traveled with someone infected with the coronavirus.
The tool is available here.
This article was published by Business Insider.
