App created to track COVID-19 in Quebec

MONTREAL – Turn on the television or go on the internet and you will be bombarded with statistics about COVID-19. But what do these numbers really mean? A PhD candidate at The Neuro has used his programming and analytical skills to create an easy-to-use app for tracking the pandemic in Quebec.

Jeremy Moreau says the app is designed to be an up-to-date resource for health professionals and the general public, the data being updated every afternoon. He began working on the app shortly after COVID-19 began shutting down public spaces across North America, using software tools developed by Montreal-based data science company Plotly.

Called “COVID-19 Montreal Dashboard”, the app updates daily numbers of cases, deaths, hospitalizations and recovered patients, and negative tests. There is also a time lapse graph of the different regions of Montreal so people can visualize how cases are progressing geographically, and another graph for cases by age group. All data comes from municipal and provincial health authorities.

So far, the app is available in French, English, Mandarin, and Spanish. Spanish translation was provided by Zaida Escila Martínez Moreno at the McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, and the Mandarin by Shangge Jiang, a McGill neuroscience alumnus.

Moreau says he hopes to add more languages later. The code is open source for anyone to use and Moreau is now helping a Concordia student from Libya adapt the dashboard for his home country.

“I hope that improving the accessibility to these data will help increase their visibility and point visitors to the resources they might need,” he said. “The fight against COVID-19 is a joint effort that requires all of us, and staying informed is an important first step in that endeavour.”

The app is available at covid19mtl.ca/en.