App of the Week: COVID-19 Testing Sites Locator

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent this bulletin at 04/24/2020 12:20 PM EDT
Response Geospatial Office

April 24, 2020  -  Subscribe

In This Issue:

App of the Week: COVID-19 Testing Sites Locator

The FEMA COVID-19 Geospatial Resource Center includes contributions from the geospatial community. By contributing you can help reduce duplication of effort, increase collaboration and provide situational awareness for decision-makers at every level of government. So, please share!

Today, we highlight a Testing Sites Locator Map, which is a contribution from GISCorps, a volunteer organization of GIS professionals and qualified data analysts.

GIS Corps Testing Sites Locator App

How Did They Collect the Data?

GIS Corps Testing Sites Volunteer Portal

Over 500 GISCorps volunteers compiled this nation-wide database of COVID-19 testing site locations. The data includes sites administered by local agencies and healthcare facilities.

The team used Survey123 to ask health departments, local governments and healthcare facilities for information on their testing sites. To further expand the data set, they also include sites publicized through official channels, such as the websites of health departments. To keep the content up to date, volunteers work daily to review submissions, verify accuracy against official websites and add new locations.

GISCorps collaborated with Coders Against COVID, who contributed physician-vetted data developed through their own crowdsourcing site, findcovidtesting.com.

Is the Data Public?

Anyone can use the Testing Sites Locator to find sites in their community.

US Army Sgt James Todd, a cavalry scout assigned to Troop B, 1st Sqaud from MS National Guard at a mobile testing site.

Users can search for an address or place, set the distance to search, and click a location on the map or from a list of results. The map includes status (e.g. operational, closed), address, whether a referral is required, operational hours, driving directions, facility website, and date of last update.

A public data layer is available as an ArcGIS REST service or a JSON file for GIS analysts.

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Q&A and Slides from the April 22 National Geospatial Coordination Call

Aprill 22, 2020 Geospatial Coordination Call

Q: I want the slides from past calls. Where can I find them? When are they sent out? Are you going to email them to me?

Answer: The slides are not public—therefore you will receive the them after each call through this GovDelivery distribution list. Due to the file size, they will be included as a link rather than an attachment. Please self-register for this distribution list. (Please share the link with anyone with interest.)

Q: How do I request access for the FEMA Geospatial Resource Center

Q: How do I get access to the GeoHealth portal?

  • Answer: Account request form can be found on the GeoHealth website https://geohealth.hhs.gov. Direct-access requests should be sent to GeoHealth@hhs.gov.

Q: I  have a .mil account and can't click on links sent to my email.

The full links are included, as well as the rest of the questions and answers in this document (right click and copy the hyperlink, if necessary).

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Did You Know?

Response Geospatial Office conducts weekly interagency coordination calls during disaster events.

In response to the Coronavirus, calls will occur each Wednesdays at 2pm ET to facilitate coordination and provide updates on status, data and needs of the FEMA GIS teams, the HHS and CDC GIS staff, and our other interagency partners.

The call is open for anyone with interest, but is not intended for members of the media. For media inquiries and official press releases from FEMA, contact: FEMA-News-Desk@fema.dhs.gov. 

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://zoom.us/j/876244231

Or iPhone one-tap :

    US: +16465588656,,876244231#  or +13126266799,,876244231#

Or Telephone:

    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

        US: +1 646 558 8656  or +1 312 626 6799  or +1 301 715 8592  or +1 346 248 7799  or +1 669 900 9128  or +1 253 215 8782

    Webinar ID: 876 244 231

Should you have any questions, or need additional information, please contact FEMA-GIO@fema.dhs.gov.

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Dates For Your Calendar

  • April 29, 2020: Interagency Geospatial Coordination Call--Coronavirus
  • May 20, 2020: Modeling and Data Working Group
  • May 28, 2020: Emergency Management GeoForum 
  • July 13–15, 2020: Esri User Conference (Virtual)