We’ve overhauled our COVID-19 data centre – this is what’s changed

For almost two yearsThe AgeandThe Sydney Morning Herald maintained a COVID-19 data centre that let you see how the pandemic was tracking at a local,state,national and global level.

The dashboard was free for anyone to access and became one of the most-viewed online items we have ever published. We put a great deal of time,thought and effort into presenting the barrage of coronavirus information in an easy-to-understand way.

However,the data centre was designed and built back at the start of 2020,and the key pieces of information people look for each day are changing. So,the time has come to overhaul the dashboard to bring it into 2022. You can check out the new version here:

So,what has changed? The visual design and structure of the page has remained much the same,but we have made a few key improvements:

At the same time,to avoid the display getting too cluttered,some figures that are no longer as important have been removed,such as the section on total PCR tests carried out since the start of the pandemic and the breakdown of all cases by infection source.

Unfortunately,it is not possible in the data centre to provide a breakdown of the vaccination status of COVID-19 cases,hospitalisations and deaths nationwide or for each state and territory. Most states and territories do not release this information,and it is not available at a national level,but it is at the top of the list of things I would like to one day include in the data centre.

Many of these changes have come about because of constructive feedback from readers,and I’m keen to hear your ideas for further improvements we could make to the data centre – although,to be honest,I am hoping that this will be the last major update the COVID-19 data centre will ever need!

There have also been a couple of recent changes to the COVID-19 vaccine tracker,which follows the vaccination progress of each state/territory,Australia and the entire world. It now displays the booster dose rate nationwide and in each state and territory,as well as the vaccination rate among children aged 5 to 11 nationwide and in each jurisdiction.

You can check out the vaccine tracker here:

Craig Butt is the national data editor of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

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Craig Butt is the National Data Editor of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

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