The Jacket is tracking pandemic data in Berkeley, Alameda County, and other Bay Area counties. Interact with the charts and map on this page to see data for a specific date or ZIP code. For the best experience, use a laptop or desktop and the latest version of any modern browser.
Berkeley reported its first case in the beginning of March. The city health department enacted a shelter-in-place order on March 16th, along with Alameda County and five other Bay Area counties. The first death in Berkeley was reported on April 8th. Berkeley High School hasn't had in-person classes since March 12th and has implemented multiple “distance learning” programs with mixed success.
Daily Cases in Alameda County
Sometimes seeing data about the coronavirus can be overwhelming: lines and bars that climb ever higher. However, cumulative charts (like the one on our homepage, sorry!) are not the best way to gauge the state of the coronavirus. Because the line never goes down, the curve will never flatten. The only way to tell is by the slope of the line, which is usually difficult to determine and is condensed as more data is added to the graph.
Above is a vertical bar chart of new cases each day in Alameda County. The red line is a rolling 7 day average, meaning the data point for each day is calculated from the average of the previous week's data. This chart is a better way to think about the coronavirus. The average line smooths out any spikes, and the chart clearly displays historical data.
Cases, Deaths, & Fatality Rate in Alameda County
The case fatality rate (CFR) is often confused with infection fatality rate (IFR) as they are very similar. However, the CFR is the ratio between the total number of cases (confirmed infections) and deaths. The IFR is the ratio between all infections and deaths. The true IFR is impossible to know because it is impossible to constantly test every single person on the planet.
Deaths per 100,000 by Bay Area County
The mess of lines above is the number of cumulative deaths per 100 thousand residents of each Bay Area county, over time. Marin is much higher than other counties, likely because of large coronavirus outbreaks at San Quentin State Prison. Hover over a county in the legend to highlight its line. Click the label to hide the county from the chart.
Berkeley Tests & Positivity Rate
This chart monitors the testing situation in Berkeley. The red line shows the positivity rate. Due to delays in test results, the city only releases weekly positivity rates. When testing in Berkeley started, only those experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus were eligible for tests. Once Berkeley opened testing for everyone, the positivity rate dropped. There are slight issues with the way the positivity rate is graphed. We are working to find a fix.
Alameda County Hospitalizations
About This Project
The data for this project is collected from the State of California, Alameda County, and the City of Berkeley. These visualizations were written in JavaScript. The data collection, processing, and storage was done with PHP and MySQL. All the source code is available on GitHub.