QGIS – Viewing COVID-19 Data

by David Crowther

Question:

How do you view COVID-19 data in QGIS?

Answer:

In an upcoming Blog we will explore resources to download, manipulate and then analyse COVID-19 related datasets within QGIS.

However, if you want a quick view of COVID-19 related data then there are some useful datasets available from the ESRI Living Atlas.

https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/en/home/

Note – some of these datasets may not be regularly updated.

From the main page, choose Browse and then in the Search Bar type COVID-19.

The list of available Services will then update to show you those related to your COVID-19 search.

After a little searching I found these useful resources for global COVID-19 data:

COVID-19 - Trends for Countries:

https://services1.arcgis.com/4yjifSiIG17X0gW4/arcgis/rest/services/COVID_Trends_View/FeatureServer

COVID-19 – Cases:

https://services1.arcgis.com/0MSEUqKaxRlEPj5g/arcgis/rest/services/ncov_cases2_v1/FeatureServer

By then applying a filter with the word UK, I found some UK based datasets:

Public Health England – Data by Upper Tier Local Authority Areas:

https://services.arcgis.com/WQ9KVmV6xGGMnCiQ/arcgis/rest/services/PHE_Data_By_UTLAS_gdb/FeatureServer

Public Health England – Data by Regions:

https://services.arcgis.com/WQ9KVmV6xGGMnCiQ/arcgis/rest/services/PHE_Data_By_Region/FeatureServer

UK – Care Homes:

https://services8.arcgis.com/3ArZhpXFARDixnL2/arcgis/rest/services/GEOLYTIX_Care_Homes_2020/FeatureServer

In QGIS these can be added via the Data Source Manager as an ArcGIS Feature Layer:

Once added, Connect to the Feature Server and add the layer to the map.

As many of these links are to Feature Layers they contain attributes, which can then be stylized within the map.

For example if we view the COVID-19 Deaths by Country point layer, which plotted as raw data looks like this:

….. but there are also attributes for the count of deaths and incident rates per Country.

Using a Graduated Thematic Classification we can then show the COVID-19 Death Counts by Country, making the Incident Points larger as the Death Counts increase.

If we look at the UK datasets, we can then map Total and Daily Cases by regions e.g. by Public Heath Upper Tier Local Authority Regions:

And then also by PHE Regions:

Using the ArcGIS Living Atlas is a great resource for accessing COVID-19 related datasets which can very easily be mapped within QGIS!

As discussed in an upcoming Blog I will look at alternate sources of these datasets and look at downloading the raw data into QGIS, as well as exploring other Open Source Solutions which can store and publish these datasets, including PostGIS and GeoServer.