COVID-19  "THE CHALLENGE"

The present COVID-19 pandemic has touched us all. The pandemic's impact and repercussions, however, are perceived differently depending on our status as individuals and as members of society.

While some strive to adjust to working online, educating their children, and getting food through Instacart, others are forced to be infected in order for society to operate. Our many social identities and the social groupings to which we belong dictate our inclusion in Society and, as a result, our Vulnerability to epidemics.

Why is Covid-19 a 'Big Challenge' ?

Total Number of COVID Cases by County

COVID-19 "THE IMPACT"

1. Virginia’s Department of Public Health reports over 21,000 cases and over 700 deaths.
2. 33.5 million people have filed for unemployment claims in the United States since mid-March.
3. The economic impacts of the disease have been felt much more broadly, as businesses have been forced to close or operate under different conditions, and as consumer spending power declines. As we look ahead, there is tremendous uncertainty about how the pandemic will end and how it will affect the global economy and our individual lives and livelihoods both in the short term and permanently.

Every community must prepare for and respond to hazardous events, whether a natural disaster like a tornado or disease outbreak, or a human-made event such as a harmful chemical spill. A number of factors, including poverty, lack of access to transportation, and crowded housing may weaken a community’s ability to prevent human suffering and financial loss in a disaster. These factors are known as Social Vulnerability Index (SVI).

Let us explore SVI

What is Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)?

From the above video we can understand that Census tracts are subdivisions of counties for which the Census collects statistical data. The CDC/ATSDR SVI ranks each tract on 15 social factors, and groups them into four related themes. Each tract receives a separate ranking for each of the Four themes, as well as an overall ranking.
Lets Study the Social Vulnerability Index for different counties and explore common themes for the Top-5 counties

Select County

County Name : Name
County Population : Population
County Area : Area
Population Density: Density
Vulnerability: Vulnerability
Please Select a County

Alert!!!  In the beginning of 2022 the number of Cases in Galax city for the month of January was at an all time high, close to a 800 cases for a county with a population of only 6660

Top-5 Counties

1.  The top three counties with the highest SVI value has a high population density of over 800. However.
2.   However, the area of the county of Galax City is one of the smallest, with just 8 square miles. This may be a reason for the high SVI value of this county, since the limited area cannot support a lot of resources and infrastructure for people to thrive on.
3. The impact of having less population would be a reason for low economic development which might be the cause of poor household and socioeconomic status of these counties, which can be clearly seen in the radar chart the the household and socieconomic factors are very close to 1 indicating poor quality of living and economic growth
4. The counties with the highest SVI seemed to show a large number of covid cases. This may be attributed as a result of SVI factors such as socioeconomic , household and housing factors whose lower values may have lead to poorer health conditions of the people living ther

Last-5 Counties

1.   The lowest three counties with the least SVI value has a much lower population density( ranging from 25-800).
2.   33.5 million people have filed for unemployment claims in the United States since mid-March.
3. The economic impacts of the disease have been felt much more broadly, as businesses have been forced to close or operate under different conditions, and as consumer spending power declines. As we look ahead, there is tremendous uncertainty about how the pandemic will end and how it will affect the global economy and our individual lives and livelihoods both in the short term and permanently.

References

https://d3-graph-gallery.com/circular_barplot.html