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Showing posts from March, 2020

March 30th Data Update

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This post updates COVID-19 confirmed case data for the DC Metropolitan area* as of March 30th 2020. The total confirmed cases in the DC area rose by 237 to  1,674  from  yesterday's total of 1,437 . Regional DC Region: 1,674 By State DC Region (1,674) Maryland: 694 District of Columbia: 495 Virginia: 485 By Jurisdiction Maryland (694) Frederick County: 26 Montgomery County: 341 Prince George's County: 294 Charles County: 33 District of Columbia (495) Virginia (485) Arlington County: 86 City of Alexandria: 26 Fairfax County: 225 Loudoun County: 61 Prince William County: 87 *Please refer to earlier blog posts to review  my approach ,  my methodology ,  Maryland historic data reconstruction , and  Virginia historic data reconstruction .

March 29th Data Update

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This post updates COVID-19 confirmed case data for the DC Metropolitan area* as of March 29th 2020. The total confirmed cases in the DC area rose by 236 to 1,437 from yesterday's total of 1,201 . Regional DC Region: 1,437 By State DC Region (1,437) Maryland: 600 District of Columbia: 401 Virginia: 436 By Jurisdiction Maryland (600) Frederick County: 24 Montgomery County: 301 Prince George's County: 247 Charles County: 28 District of Columbia (401) Virginia (436) Arlington County: 84 City of Alexandria: 25 Fairfax County: 188 Loudoun County: 61 Prince William County: 78 *Please refer to earlier blog posts to review  my approach ,  my methodology ,  Maryland historic data reconstruction , and  Virginia historic data reconstruction .

March 28th Data Update

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This post updates COVID-19 confirmed case data for the DC Metropolitan area* as of March 28th 2020. Regional DC Region: 1,201 By State DC Region (1,201) Maryland: 494 District of Columbia: 342 Virginia: 365 By Jurisdiction Maryland (494) Frederick County: 22 Montgomery County: 255 Prince George's County: 196 Charles County: 21 District of Columbia (342) Virginia (365) Arlington County: 75 City of Alexandria: 20 Fairfax County: 156 Loudoun County: 54 Prince William County: 60 *Please refer to earlier blog posts to review my approach , my methodology , Maryland historic data reconstruction , and Virginia historic data reconstruction .

Maryland Data Reconstruction

Reconstruction of Maryland's case data was made simpler by the fact that there are only four jurisdictions to monitor: Frederick County , Montgomery County , Prince George's County , and Charles County . Maryland's  first reported COVID-19 cases  were on March 5th 2020. I began pulling the daily MDH COVID-19 data on March 27th. Hence, information for the dates between March 5th and March 26th need to be determined. As MDH does not publish historic case data, we need need to reconstruct the data ourselves. Due to difference in available information between each jurisdiction, we need to take a different approach for each one. Compared to the reconstruction of Virginia's data , the task for Maryland was made a bit easier by the fact that there are only four jurisdictions in Maryland to monitor. Frederick County - The Frederick County public health website provided some information on confirmed cases, in addition to some reporting from the Frederick News Post .  An

Virginia Data Reconstruction

Virginia's first reported COVID-19 case was on March 7th 2020. I began pulling the daily VDH COVID-19 data on March 27th. Hence, information for the dates between March 7th and March 26th need to be determined. As VDH does not publish historic case data, we need need to reconstruct the data ourselves. Due to difference in available information between each jurisdiction, we need to take a different approach for each one. City of Alexandria - The city publishes a daily summary  ("City News Releases") of information related to COVID-19 in the form of a press release, including new case data. However, due to differences between when the City identifies cases and when it was reported to VDH, there is sometimes a lag or latency. For Alexandria, thus, I relied mostly on a handful of press reports, such as ARLnow.com and the Prince William Times (see below). Arlington County - The news organization ARLnow.com has been publishing near-daily updated on new COVID-19 cas

Methodology

The combined data in this blog comes from three primary sources, the D.C. Department of Health (DC Health), the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). Each of these organizations publish daily COVID-19 case updates, but each organization publishes the data in a different manner. DC Health ( COVID-19 data repository for DC Health ) The D.C. Department of Health has probably the most details on case information among the three, including cases, recoveries, deaths, and testing details. In addition to a dashboard-style tracker, the department posts a spreadsheet which includes historic case information dating back to the first-known confirmed case in D.C. MDH ( COVID-19 data repository for MDH ) MDH has a dashboard-style tracker which contains various case information, including cases, deaths, recoveries, and limited testing details. Unlike DC Health, MDH does not have historic case information available for analysis (or at least doesn't

Introduction to this Blog

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As confirmed COVID-19 cases grow nationally, discrepancies and gaps in reporting methods are becoming evident. Most case data are released on a state-by-state basis by the respective state departments of health. This makes multi-state regional analysis difficult. This blog will attempt to track and analyze data for counties and county-level equivalents the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, as defined by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments : District of Columbia Washington, D.C. Maryland Charles County Frederick County Montgomery County Prince George's County Virginia City of Alexandria Arlington County City of Fairfax Fairfax County City of Falls Church Loudoun County City of Manassas City of Manassas Park Prince William County (image from the " National Capitol Region Transportation Planning Board ") A methodology post will follow this one. Please contact the author for citation and attribution. About Me I live in No