New dashboard will display data trends weekly
On Wednesday, November 2, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will update its COVID-19 data dashboard, transitioning the data visualizations from daily to weekly, streamlining the design, and adding new features. The overhauled landing page is easier to read and navigate, and the transition to weekly updates (on Wednesdays) is aligned with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changing COVID-19 line level and aggregate case and death data reporting cadence from daily to weekly and more than 35 other states’ data visualizations.
“The new landing page for the COVID-19 data dashboard increases the accessibility of the data and helps Coloradans better understand the current risk factors in their local communities,” said Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist. “At this point in the response, interpreting data for a seven-day period is more stable for the state’s decision-making process than reacting to day-to-day fluctuations that may not be indicative of larger trends.”
CDPHE will implement updates to the data dashboard Wednesday, November 2, which includes the following changes to the website:
- The dashboard will have a redesigned look, making it clearer and easier to navigate.
- The data visualizations will update on a weekly cadence instead of daily. New data will be posted on Wednesdays at 4 p.m., using data from the preceding week (calculated as Sunday – Saturday).
- A new “archive” section of the website will house the original dashboard including visualizations that are no longer updated. Visualizations that will be archived because they are outdated or no longer provide meaningful detail in the context of weekly updates are listed below.
- A new vaccine data button on the sidebar will allow users to navigate directly to the vaccine data dashboard from the main data landing page.
- New vaccine breakthrough data visualizations for people who are 50 or older who received sec- ond boosters will compare rates of hospitalization among people who received two boosters, a single booster, were vaccinated but did not receive a booster, and those who were not vaccinated. Data are displayed over time, and by age, gender, race and ethnicity.
CDPHE’s epidemiologists and data analysts recommend looking at weekly data for the most accurate representation of COVID-19 in Colorado communities. At this time, CDPHE will continue to post daily COVID-19 data files on Colorado’s Open Data Portal every weekday. This maintains the current posting schedule for data files, continues daily data transparency, and ensures minimal disruption for more advanced data consumers. Daily data published in the Open Data Portal is a snapshot of data from the day it was published. These files are not updated after they are uploaded to the data portal.
CDPHE’s epidemiologists continue to monitor trends in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and variants. In addition to presenting a more accurate picture of COVID-19 in Colorado, presenting weekly visualizations of CDPHE data will allow for more time for epidemiologists and data manag- ers to review the data, detect unexpected data issues, and correct them before the data is presented on the dashboard. Data updates for other similar pathogens, like influenza, occur weekly.
Colorado’s Roadmap Forward, released in February of this year, outlined steps to maintain a level of preparedness and agility that will keep Coloradans safe and healthy while normalizing COVID-19 care in traditional medical settings. Colorado is in a different place than it was in March of 2020 thanks to the actions of Coloradans. The safe and effective vaccine is widely available for everyone aged 6 months and older, highly effective COVID-19 treatments work to prevent serious outcomes, and health care providers are much better versed in caring for those with COVID-19.
Continue to stay up to date by visiting covid19.colorado.gov.
Source: CDPHE
