A chorem-based approach to visualizing COVID-19-related data

ABSTRACT

Due to the increasing availability and openness of data from many countries worldwide, visualizations of the COVID-19 pandemic that aim to track the virus over time and across geographic areas are multiplying; geovisualization is proving to be an effective solution to better understand the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, due to the resulting “infodemic,” many visualization approaches are sub-optimal. For example, direct projections of COVID-19-related data on display are unsound from a cartographic point of view; the results are often overcomplicated, leading to cognitive overload, which may in turn, lead to misinterpretations. Thus, developing effective geovisualization methods is necessary to improve epidemiologists’ and local authorities’ decision-making abilities. This study proposes a novel approach to geovisualizing COVID-19-related data based on chorems. Our objective was to define a chorematic map that could represent, through visual summaries extracted from the analysis of COVID-19-related data, the origin of the first cases and evolution of the virus in Algeria during the first months of the pandemic. Accordingly, we propose a geovisualization methodology based on spatial data mining techniques and GIS technology.

Key policy highlights

• Geovisualizations of the spread of COVID-19 have been abundant and can be useful tools for citizens and decision-makers

• Problems with underlying datasets and the overcomplexity of visualization can reduce their effectiveness and practical use

• This study investigates the use of chorems to provide clearly legible maps that condense key information into graphical symbols

• The methodology is applied to the first six months of the COVID-19 outbreak in Algeria

KEYWORDS:

• Chorems
• cartography
• geovisualization
• epidemiological data
• COVID-19

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude for the editor’s and anonymous reviewers’ timely and constructive feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at the World Health Organization (n.d) Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) dashboard (data for Algeria)https://covid19.who.int/region/afro/country/dz