Use this excellent COVID-19 coronavirus tracker and Microsoft Edge to keep informed

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

Pin this excellent tracker app to your taskbar for simple one-click access to the current COVID-19 outbreak.

Covid 19 Trackerpic
Covid 19 Trackerpic (Image credit: Daniel Rubino/Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Johns Hopkins has an excellent COVID-19 tracker.
  • You can install the tracker as an app in Edge.
  • Easily keep up to date through transparent and reliable data.

It's hard to use social media or watch the news these days without hearing about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While some of it verges on unnecessary panic, there is reason to keep informed, especially with the amount of data and technology we have today.

The folks at Johns Hopkins created an interactive web-based dashboard that collects data from WHO, CDC, and China CDC to "visualize and track the reported cases on a daily timescale." The team at Johns Hopkins state that the purpose of the tracker is "… to provide the public with an understanding of the outbreak situation as it unfolds, with transparent data sources."

The website can be found at gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard and runs in your browser, including the new Microsoft Edge.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

If you want to make the process simple, install the tracker as an app and pin it to your taskbar or Start menu. Doing so lets you run the tracker as a standalone app, which is much easier and useful than running in a tab. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard in the new Edge browser.
  2. Select the browser menu '…' in the upper right corner in Edge.
  3. Navigate to Apps, and select Install this site as an app.

Covid Tracker Install

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Name the app if you want and hit Install.

Covid Tracker

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

You'll now be able to keep update to date on COVID-19's spread rate and the latest data with a single click.

If you'd like to help with finding therapies for COVID-19 check out how to donate your computer's processing power for the cause.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.