Accurate information is critical during a health pandemic. Often one of the most powerful ways to convey information accurately is through data visualization.

The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 dashboard has become a go-to public source to understand the spread of the virus by country.

In this informative video, a panel of Johns Hopkins experts brief Capitol Hill on the Corona outbreak. Laura Gardner, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, shares more about the data collection processes, data validation and development of the dashboard. At the time the panel was presented on 6 March, the dashboard had about 1.6 billion views per day.

Data journalism is coming into its own, telling the visual story behind the spread of the virus. For example, the Washington Post and the New York Times has developed fascinating visual models to show how effective social distancing flattens the curve, and how the virus could potentially peak. Also reference the BBC’s visual guide, Reuters Graphics and Newsweek’s data visualization company, Statista.

However, visualizations about the virus should be done responsibly. In this great article on Medium, the author uses the phrase #vizresponsibly and lists ten considerations before you create another COVID-19 chart.