{"636769":{"#nid":"636769","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Release County-Level Calculator to Estimate Risk of Covid-19 Exposure at U.S. Events ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVisit the web app: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECOVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cem\u003EThis web app is very popular, and its servers are being upgraded daily.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nIf the site is slow to load, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/covid19riskUSA\u0022\u003Esee daily aggregate maps here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAn \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Einteractive dashboard\u003C\/a\u003E that estimates Covid-19 incidence at gatherings in the U.S. has added a new feature: the ability to calculate county-level risk of attending an event with someone actively infected with Coronavirus (Covid-19). Previously, the dashboard estimated exposure for different size events by state.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new \u0026ldquo;Covid-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool\u0026rdquo; is the work of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/joshua-weitz\u0022\u003EJoshua Weitz\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and founding director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/qbios.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPh.D. in Quantitative Biosciences\u003C\/a\u003E program, in collaboration with the lab of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/clio-andris\u0022\u003EClio Andris\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planning.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of City and Regional Planning\u003C\/a\u003E with a joint appointment in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ic.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech, and with researchers from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.abil.ihrc.com\/\u0022\u003EApplied Bioinformatics Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E (a public\/private partnership between Georgia Tech, IHRC Inc., and ASRT Inc.).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have developed an interactive\u0026nbsp;county-level map of the risk that one or more individuals may have\u0026nbsp;Covid-19 in events of different sizes,\u0026rdquo; Weitz says. \u0026ldquo;The issue of understanding risks associated with gatherings is even more\u0026nbsp;relevant as many kinds of businesses, including sports and universities, are\u0026nbsp;considering how to re-open safely.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe dashboard accounts for widespread gaps in U.S. testing for the Coronavirus, which can silently spread through individuals who display mild or no symptoms of illness. \u0026ldquo;Precisely because of under-testing and the risk of exposure and infection, these risk calculations provide further support for the ongoing need for social distancing and protective measures. Such precautions are still needed even in small events, given the large number of circulating cases,\u0026rdquo; states the dashboard\u0026rsquo;s website.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example: As of Monday, July 6, for an event with 100 attendees in Fulton County, Georgia, the estimated risk of someone in attendance being actively infected with Coronavirus is 76 percent. For that same day at an event with 1,000 attendees, the estimated risk in all but 16 of Georgia\u0026rsquo;s 159 counties exceeds 99 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe dashboard\u0026rsquo;s technical development was made possible by contributions from Seolha\u0026nbsp;Lee, a master\u0026rsquo;s student in Andris\u0026#39; group, and Aroon Chande, a Ph.D. candidate in Bioinformatics at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe dashboard\u0026rsquo;s website, which is updated daily, incorporates data from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/us\/coronavirus-us-cases.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe New York Times\u003C\/em\u003E case count\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/covidtracking.com\/\u0022\u003ECovidtracking.com dashboard\u003C\/a\u003E (a resource led by journalist Alexis Madrigal of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Atlantic\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E)\u003C\/em\u003E. Both of these databases record confirmed case reports from state-level departments of public\u0026nbsp;health.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The Covid-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool takes the number of cases reported in the past 14 days in each county, and\u0026nbsp;multiplies these by an under-testing factor to estimate the number of\u0026nbsp;circulating cases in a particular county,\u0026rdquo; Weitz explains. (In late June, Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/time.com\/5859790\/cdc-coronavirus-estimates\/\u0022\u003Estated on a press call\u003C\/a\u003E that \u0026ldquo;now that \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/635137\/immunity-recovered-covid-19-patients-could-cut-risk-expanding-economic-activity\u0022\u003Eserology tests\u003C\/a\u003E are available, which test for antibodies, the estimates we have right now show about 10 times more people have antibodies in the jurisdictions tested than had documented infections.\u0026rdquo;)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/science\/2020\/03\/graphic-see-why-small-groups-are-safer-during-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic\/\u0022\u003ETracking tools developed earlier this year\u003C\/a\u003E by Weitz and colleagues at Georgia Tech and other institutions are also factored into the team\u0026rsquo;s new county-level calculator. \u0026ldquo;The model is simple, intentionally so, and provided context for the rationale to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/blog\/get-schooled\/scientists-the-math-show-how-large-events-like-march-madness-could-spread-coronavirus\/g1pVdzQgJS5aoPnadBqyXO\/\u0022\u003Ehalt large gatherings in early-mid March\u003C\/a\u003E and newly relevant context for considering when and how to re-open,\u0026rdquo; states the dashboard website.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe new county-level calculator builds on the team\u0026rsquo;s interactive state-level tool, which estimates the daily risk that one or more individuals infected with Covid-19 are present in U.S. events of various sizes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The new county-level calculator builds on the team\u2019s interactive state-level tool, which estimates the daily risk that one or more individuals infected with Covid-19 are present in U.S. events of various sizes."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2020-07-07 14:56:56","changed_gmt":"2020-07-16 18:13:46","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"636771":{"id":"636771","type":"image","title":"The team\u0027s interactive map shows the risk level of attending an event, given the event size and location (assuming 10:1 ascertainment bias). The risk level is the estimated chance (0-100%) that at least one Covid-19 positive individual will be present.","body":null,"created":"1594134068","gmt_created":"2020-07-07 15:01:08","changed":"1594134068","gmt_changed":"2020-07-07 15:01:08","alt":"","file":{"fid":"242262","name":"map copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/map%20copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/map%20copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":788820,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/map%20copy.jpg?itok=BOvNhCSu"}},"636773":{"id":"636773","type":"image","title":" For an event with 100 attendees in Fulton County on July 6, the estimated risk of someone in attendance being actively infected with Coronavirus is 76 percent. For 1,000 attendees, the estimated risk across most Georgia counties exceeds 99 percent.","body":null,"created":"1594134260","gmt_created":"2020-07-07 15:04:20","changed":"1594134260","gmt_changed":"2020-07-07 15:04:20","alt":"","file":{"fid":"242265","name":"Fulton map.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fulton%20map.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fulton%20map.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1345895,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Fulton%20map.jpg?itok=aY4FYcXz"}}},"media_ids":["636771","636773"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.abil.ihrc.com\/post\/abil-helps-develop-covid-19-risk-assessment-tool","title":"ABiL scientists help develop COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/collaborative-covid-19-research-receives-national-science-foundation-rapid-grant","title":"Collaborative Covid-19 Research Receives National Science Foundation RAPID Grant"},{"url":"https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/635137\/immunity-recovered-covid-19-patients-could-cut-risk-expanding-economic-activity","title":"Immunity of Recovered COVID-19 Patients Could Cut Risk of Expanding Economic Activity"},{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.scientificamerican.com\/observations\/online-covid-19-dashboard-calculates-how-risky-reopenings-and-gatherings-can-be\/","title":"Scientific American: Online COVID-19 Dashboard Calculates How Risky Reopenings and Gatherings Can Be"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/science\/2020\/03\/graphic-see-why-small-groups-are-safer-during-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic\/","title":"National Geographic: See why keeping groups small can save lives in the era of COVID-19"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/blog\/get-schooled\/scientists-the-math-show-how-large-events-like-march-madness-could-spread-coronavirus\/g1pVdzQgJS5aoPnadBqyXO\/","title":"AJC: Scientists do the math to show how large events like March Madness could spread coronavirus"},{"url":"https:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/COVID19Help","title":"Georgia Tech Helping Stories: Responding to Covid-19"},{"url":"https:\/\/covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu\/","title":"COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\njess@cos.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}