Going to a New Year’s Eve party in Texas? This tool lets you calculate COVID risk
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge across the country, overwhelming hospitals and devastating families, people are still planning on bidding adieu to 2020 despite the risks that come with partying.
If you’re considering celebrating on New Year’s Eve with other people, there’s a handy tool in order to assess the risk of the virus spreading in each Texas county.
The interactive map, which was created by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, helps assess “the risk that one or more individuals infected with COVID-19 are present in an event of various sizes,” the website said.
Those doing their research can adjust the size of the event from 10 people to 5,000 and toggle over Texas counties for the current risk level. The risk level percentage is color coordinated on the map, light yellow being the lowest risk while counties in dark red currently stand at a risk greater than 99%.
Areas vary in risk percentage, especially in metropolitan areas like Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. A gathering of 20 people in Tarrant County poses a risk of 55% that someone at the gathering has COVID-19, using the data as of Wednesday. Meanwhile, Dallas County has a 53% risk in the same scenario.
“You can reduce the risk that one case becomes many by wearing a mask, distancing, and gathering outdoors in smaller groups,” the Georgia Institute of Technology researchers say.
The interactive map can be found here.