Pandemic Pause Gave Space to Uncover Data Gaps

The COVID-19 pandemic created a limbo in data gathering that has allowed researchers to highlight ambiguities normally glanced over, according to Shannon Mattern’s “How to Map Nothing” article, which was published in the Places Journal March edition.

Mattern, anthropology professor at the New School for Social Research, points to various new visualization and machine-learning tools for “acknowledging and manifesting the gaps” in archivists’ collections.

University of Illinois COVID-19 complaints and social media reveal how widespread violations were

A review of more than 400 complaints about partying and public health violations, multiple disciplinary actions and partial lockdowns at apartment complexes show the impact of the partying and social gathering was far wider than previously recognized.

While many students obeyed guidelines that included wearing masks and social distancing, a significant number of students held or attended large parties and social gatherings at Greek houses, dorms and apartments.

Returning international students from countries with lower infection rates of COVID-19 than the U.S.

Most of the international students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s 2019-2020 academic year are from countries with lower daily Covid-19 infection rates than the United States, according to a CU-CitizenAccess analysis.

Last spring, 9,824 international students attended the University from more than 100 countries, according to university data.

International students returning to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus this year will be required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

Reports on “recovered” Covid-19 cases inconsistent and incomplete

As Covid-19 surges again in the U.S., the high percentage of “recovered” cases might be cited as a sign that a vast majority of those infected quickly rid themselves of the virus.

But the “recovered” statistics are incomplete, inconsistent and call into question the accuracy of any total number of recovered cases, according to a review of 50 state public health sites by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

A journalist’s hunt for coronavirus data exposes Brazil’s real death toll

With the help of two former students, Marcelo Soares has collected data showing that deaths from COVID-19 in Brazil cities are far higher than authorities claim.

“In March, in the early days of the pandemic in Brazil, I was intrigued by the lack of detailed data in the Health ministry,” Soares said. “They only published case counts aggregated by state, with a delay in comparison to what state secretaries published.”