<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>COVID-19 UK</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="output.css"> </head> <body class="container mx-auto py-10"> <div> <h1 class="text-center">COVID-19 in the UK</h1> <p> Up until recently, I used a couple of resources (i.e. <a href="https://multimedia.scmp.com/infographics/news/china/article/3047038/wuhan-virus/index.html">one</a>, <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/">two</a>) for tracking an updated number of confirmed covid-19 cases. </p> <p> Given the high speed at which the virus is spreading, I was having a difficult time intuiting the shape of this growth. For example if today the total number of confirmed cases for covid-19 in the UK was 500, I could not remember if yesterday it was 450, 400, or 200. </p> <p> Thankfully someone is <a href="https://github.com/pomber/covid19">publishing this data</a> as a timeseries database. I am currently living in London, so I decided to chart the <u>daily number of confirmed covid-19 cases in the UK</u> to better understand what is happening. </p> </div> <canvas id="myChart" class="py-12"></canvas> <script src="./node_modules/chart.js/dist/Chart.bundle.min.js"></script> <script> var timeseries = fetch('https://pomber.github.io/covid19/timeseries.json') .then(res => res.json()) .then(createChart); function createChart(data) { var uk = data["United Kingdom"]; var data = uk.map(x => x["confirmed"]); var labels = uk.map(x => x["date"]); var ctx = document.getElementById('myChart').getContext('2d'); var myChart = new Chart(ctx, { type: 'line', data: { labels: labels, datasets: [{ label: 'Number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.K.', data: data, backgroundColor: 'rgba(255, 0, 100, 0.2)', borderWidth: 3 }] }, options: { scales: { yAxes: [{ ticks: { beginAtZero: true } }] } } }); } </script> <div> <h2 class="text-center">Back of the envelope predictions</h2> <p> From what I have read, a population where 60% of its constituents have been infected with covid-19 and have recovered is said to have "herd immunity". Once a population has herd immunity, the rate at which the virus spreads decreases. </p> <p> Roughly 60M people live in the UK; 60% of 60M is around 40M. Before a population reaches "herd immunity", the total number of <em>true covid-19 cases</em> <u>doubles every five days</u>. Therefore in <u>fifty days</u> you might expect the number of true cases to be <u>1000x larger</u> than what it is today. </p> <p> So if you think the total number of <em>true covid-19 cases</em> <u>today</u> is 40,000 then you might expect the rate of growth to slow down in a little less than two months. </p> <p> Thank you for reading. </p> </div> <footer class="pt-5 mb-8 lg:flex"> <a class="block py-2 lg:w-1/4 text-center hover:underline" href="https://learn.wpcarro.dev">Learn</a> <a class="block py-2 lg:w-1/4 text-center hover:underline" href="https://blog.wpcarro.dev">Blog</a> <a class="block py-2 lg:w-1/4 text-center hover:underline" href="https://twitter.com/wpcarro">Twitter</a> <a class="block py-2 lg:w-1/4 text-center hover:underline" href="https://github.com/wpcarro">Github</a> </footer> </body> </html>