Why were some communities in Europe worse hit by COVID-19 than others? Why did certain regions become hotspots while others emerged relatively unscathed?
This data-driven investigation seeks to find out, drawing on dozens of sources of regional statistics to paint an unprecedented picture of regional and local differences.
Journalists Luis Rodríguez, Adrián Blanco and Irene Benedicto built a Europe-wide database of COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths — all categorised by region. They also collected sociodemographic data, which helps to explain how the virus spread and why different outbreaks happened in specific areas.
Happy to finally share the first results of our 6-month data journalism investigation aiming to contribute to a better understanding of the local spread of Covid-19 in the European Union, thanks to the #IJ4EU grant by @ejcnet @globalfreemedia @ECPMF https://t.co/5XGB34TDCm pic.twitter.com/CsTgk848j0
— Irene Benedicto (@irenebenedicto) March 15, 2021
The team will make all the data public, along with a full explanation of their methodology, so researchers and journalists can benefit from the structured database.
See below for articles published so far. For more information, visit the project’s dedicated website, CovidRegionalTracker.eu.
