Development of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Facilities Status Dashboard for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Approach and Challenges

Abstract

Objectives: Develop a tool for applying various COVID-19 re-opening guidelines to the more than 120 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) facilities. Methods: A geographic information system boundary was created for each EPA facility encompassing the county where the EPA facility is located and the counties where employees commuted from. This commuting area is used for display in the Dashboard and to summarize population and COVID-19 health data for analysis. Results: Scientists in EPA's Office of Research and Development developed the EPA Facility Status Dashboard, an easy-to-use web application that displays data and statistical analyses on COVID-19 cases, testing, hospitalizations, and vaccination rates. Conclusion: The Dashboard was designed to provide readily accessible information for EPA management and staff to view and understand the COVID-19 risk surrounding each facility. It has been modified several times based on user feedback, availability of new data sources, and updated guidance. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or the policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Keywords: COVID-19; data visualization; geographic information system; occupational health; public health.