Virus 'heat map' from Facebook, Google user surveys visualises spread of COVID-19
21 April, 2020
Researchers Monday unveiled a coronavirus “heat map” powered by Facebook data which is targeted at helping track the spread of the condition and plan for reopening society.
The Carnegie Mellon University project offers “real-time indications of COVID-19 activity not previously available from any other source,” according to a university statement.
The map originated with millions of responses to surveys of Facebook and Google users within an effort to monitor the spread of the virus.
Facebook leader Mark Zuckerberg said heat map, currently available for the United States, had been expanded globally with help from University of Maryland research teams.
“As the world fights COVID-19 and countries develop plans to reopen their societies, it’s critical to possess a clear understanding of the way the disease is spreading,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page and in the Washington Post.
“With a community of billions of folks globally, Facebook can uniquely help researchers and health authorities get the information they need to respond to the outbreak and begin planning the recovery.”
Carnegie Mellon researchers said they are acquiring about one million responses weekly from Facebook users, and also have also gotten some 600,000 from Google users.
“Using these and other unique data sources, the CMU researchers will monitor changes over time, enabling them to forecast COVID-19 activity weeks in to the future,” the research team said.
The study uses responses to Facebook surveys about symptoms persons are experiences, with data manipulated by university team rather than shared with the social network.
The scientists also count on anonymized data from Google and other partners on symptoms and search queries.
“The survey asked persons if indeed they have symptoms such as for example fevers, coughing, shortness of breath or loss of smell that are associated with COVID-19,” Zuckerberg said.
“Since experiencing symptoms is a precursor to becoming more seriously ill, this survey might help forecast how many cases hospitals will dsicover in the times ahead and provide an early on indicator of where in fact the outbreak keeps growing and where the curve has been successfully flattened.”
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