{"641361":{"#nid":"641361","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Home for the Holidays: Know the Travel Risks Before You Go","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story was originally published by \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:zoe.kafkes@design.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EZoe Kafkes\u003C\/a\u003E on the website of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planning.gatech.edu\/feature\/home-holidays-know-travel-risks-you-go\u0022\u003ESchool of City \u0026amp; Regional Planning.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Covid-19 outbreaks surge in several states, the choice to see family this holiday season gets more complicated by the day. Thankfully, there\u0026rsquo;s a tool\u0026mdash;developed by Georgia Tech faculty, scientists, GIS specialists, and graduate students\u0026mdash;that can help estimate the potential risk of exposure involved with a trip home for a turkey dinner.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/joshua-weitz\u0022\u003EJoshua S. Weitz\u003C\/a\u003E, Patton Distinguished Professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planning.gatech.edu\/people\/clio-andris\u0022\u003EClio Andris\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the Schools of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planning.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECity and Regional Planning\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ic.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInteractive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E, created the \u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECovid-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey launched the tool in July, and since then it has generated more than 2 million unique visitors, been featured in national and international media, and spurred the development of related sites in Spanish and Italian. A multi-authored scientific article describing the tool was published in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41562-020-01000-9\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENature Human Behaviour\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;on November 9, 2020.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are starting to see the traffic ramp up again as people plan for the holidays,\u0026rdquo; Andris said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EA Useful Spatial Tool\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe tool breaks down the risk of attending events, no matter the size, based on county-level Covid-19 case reports in the U.S. and parts of Europe. Users can select the county they are interested in and the size of the event they wish to attend.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeitz, the founding director of Tech\u0026rsquo;s Quantitative Biosciences Graduate Program, and an ardent Atlanta United fan, was having trouble deciding whether or not to go to a home game when the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta reopened after the Covid-19 lockdown.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe developed a statistical model based on the odds of encountering one infected individual amongst many. Weitz quickly realized that the model would also be useful in the form of an interactive map.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I reached out to Andris, given her expertise in spatial visualization and analysis,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Clio and I were already collaborating on modeling Covid-19 epidemic spread in Georgia. I knew she would be an ideal partner, particularly given the strong visualization background of her team of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planning.gatech.edu\/master-science-geographic-information-science-technology\u0022\u003EMaster of Science in Geographic Information Science and Technology\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;students.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAndris\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/friendlycities.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EFriendly Cities Lab\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;works on a number of Covid-19 projects meant to assist cities and the people that live in them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;At that point in the summer, and even now, the Covid-19 case rates change based on location,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;Early on, people only had national-level data, and we wanted to drill down to the county level. This allows people to decide whether to attend an event based on the risk level in their locality.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the interactive tool works well for large-scale events, users can also select smaller event sizes like 10 or 15 people\u0026mdash;the size of many family gatherings during the holidays.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERead the rest of the story on the website of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planning.gatech.edu\/feature\/home-holidays-know-travel-risks-you-go\u0022\u003ESchool of City and Regional Planning.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs Covid-19 outbreaks surge in several states, the choice to see family this holiday season gets more complicated by the day. Thankfully, Georgia Tech developed a tool that can help estimate the potential risk of exposure.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Think of our research and the risk assessment tool like a weather map. We aren\u0026rsquo;t telling you to get your umbrella or to stay inside, but we are telling you that outside it is raining,\u0026quot; said Clio Andris.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"As Covid-19 outbreaks surge in several states, the choice to see family this holiday season gets more complicated by the day. Thankfully, Georgia Tech developed a tool that can help estimate the potential risk of exposure."}],"uid":"35185","created_gmt":"2020-11-16 21:18:09","changed_gmt":"2020-11-16 21:34:57","author":"kpietkiewicz3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-11-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-11-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"641360":{"id":"641360","type":"image","title":"Covid-19 Weather Map","body":null,"created":"1605561312","gmt_created":"2020-11-16 21:15:12","changed":"1605561312","gmt_changed":"2020-11-16 21:15:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"243720","name":"covid weather map.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/covid%20weather%20map.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/covid%20weather%20map.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":305591,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/covid%20weather%20map.jpg?itok=pVARGP4X"}},"635045":{"id":"635045","type":"image","title":"Joshua Weitz, professor, School of Biological Sciences ","body":null,"created":"1588625892","gmt_created":"2020-05-04 20:58:12","changed":"1588625892","gmt_changed":"2020-05-04 20:58:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241667","name":"Weitz.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Weitz.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Weitz.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":629497,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Weitz.jpg?itok=iwrsFnKo"}},"624725":{"id":"624725","type":"image","title":"Aroon Chande ","body":null,"created":"1566225131","gmt_created":"2019-08-19 14:32:11","changed":"1566225131","gmt_changed":"2019-08-19 14:32:11","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237877","name":"Aroon Chande.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Aroon%20Chande.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Aroon%20Chande.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":12481,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Aroon%20Chande.jpg?itok=2H-E-MiL"}}},"media_ids":["641360","635045","624725"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/campus-surveillance-testing-update-tracking-cases-and-taking-action","title":"Campus Surveillance Testing Update: Tracking Cases and Taking Action"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/georgia-tech-surveillance-testing-update-and-early-interpretations-novid-app-and-your-questions","title":"Georgia Tech Surveillance Testing Update and Early Interpretations, NOVID App, and Your Questions \u2014 Answered"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/events\/testing-townhall-covid-19-cases-rise-holiday-travel-and-stopping-spread-0","title":"Testing Townhall: Covid-19 Cases Rise, Holiday Travel and Stopping the Spread"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186275","name":"holiday health"},{"id":"184289","name":"covid-19"},{"id":"156","name":"testing"},{"id":"729","name":"pandemic"},{"id":"186205","name":"Covid-19 event planning risk assessment tool"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EZoe Kafkes\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nMarketing \u0026amp; Events Coordinator\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSchool of City \u0026amp; Regional Planning\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:zoe.kafkes@design.gatech.edu?subject=MEDIA%20PLANNING.GATECH.EDU\u0022\u003EE-mail Zoe\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n+1 404-894-2354\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["zoe.kafkes@design.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}