Image: Representation of data within covid-19 virus (adapted from original: Felipe Esquivel Reed, CC BY-SA 4.0)
It is clear that the Covid-19 crisis is a rapidly evolving public health emergency with considerable geographic and demographic variation in its impact.
By using web-scraping techniques, researchers russia rcs data can collect data in real-time and on a routine basis – this is important because with so much data being produced, some datasets might become overwritten, archived or lost over time. Computational methods offer one such means of ensuring you have the latest data on this disease.
It is also important to choose carefully which datasets you track to avoid picking up misinformation.
A number of trusted, expert research centres and data producers are working tirelessly to capture and share the latest statistics relating to this disease. As mentioned above, I would start with the JHU CSSE and the ONS data.
While social media platforms are a useful means of rapidly disseminating material, perhaps take what you read with a pinch of salt until you can confirm its veracity via a trusted source.
My webinar Webscraping for Social Science Research webinar will take place on April 23 from 3pm to 4pm.