Covid-19 samples testing

Testing for Covid-19 positivity is key to controlling the spread of the infection. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the team and volunteers at my institute, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, ~40,000 samples have been tested from March-October 2020 using the gold standard RT-qPCR based detection method. In this series of vizzes, I have examined the demographic trends of the individuals tested. This is a work in progress and trends may change as we incorporate data from the continued testing of samples.

This is a good use case where a pie chart can convey information usefully - two of them in fact, with a drill down of one into the other to make a sunburst. Not yet expert enough to refrain from using pies, I decided this would be the cleanest way to show the extent of test positivity among distinct groups. The outer pie indicates the % positives and negatives within the three symptom-based categories (represented in the inner pie).

This viz and the other demographic trends are hosted at CCMB. Interactive versions exploring the relationship of gender, age, symptoms and hospitalization status with test positivity can be found at CovidTesting_Demographics.

Many thanks to the tutorial by Andy Kriebel on creating a pie chart drill down. The sunburst byAlexander Mou is also a cool viz - one that I had recently come across but was not sure about where and how to apply!