Tracking COVID-19 with Air Travel Data: Rand

Rand Corporation researchers have developed a Covid-19 air-traffic visualization tool that combines case data from Johns Hopkins University with travel data from the International Air Transport Association. “Together, these data sets make it possible to visualize how coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections and commercial air travel have interacted to export infection risk across the world,” reports Rand. The tool can help in predicting infection patterns and “As a result, policymakers, analysts, and others can estimate the impact of travel-related policy interventions, such as restricting air travel from various countries.” Researchers can also use the tool to assess the accuracy of official reports on confirmed cases. The tool identified eight countries at highest risk of importing Covid-19 from China in late January – Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the United States, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia – and a week later the eight countries had the most confirmed cases outside China. The world will not contain the pandemic or improve the global economy if countries engage in under-reporting, premature reopening of economies, and failure to encourage social distancing and face masks. The researchers continue to refine the tool to account for province- and state-level data. – YaleGlobal