Cape Cod Healthcare, Cape Cod Commission and Barnstable County Announce COVID-19 Community Alert Heatmap System

For Immediate Release          

(HYANNIS, MA – April 14, 2020) -- Cape Cod Healthcare, in partnership with Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment and Cape Cod Commission, has announced a new online COVID-19 community alert heatmap system showing numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus 2019) at a detailed geographic level within Barnstable County. The information will be updated daily and is designed to empower residents on Cape Cod to make informed choices about public health safety precautions to minimize the risk of infection and further transmission of COVID-19 within the County.

The COVID-19 patient case data is being managed by the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Cape Cod, a member of Cape Cod Healthcare and Barnstable County, and is being presented using advanced mapping technology managed by the Cape Cod Commission. The data represent running totals for every zip code summarized at regional level across Cape Cod; and individual zip code level data for participating towns. The data will be updated daily and will be classified using three color codes representing infection risk potential.

“Cape Cod Healthcare and our community partners at Barnstable County, Cape Cod Commission and many others, have worked tirelessly to prepare for the expected surge of COVID-19 patients. Concurrently, our efforts to prevent the transmission of infection in the community are being developed based on successful public health practices from around the globe,” said Kumara Sidhartha, MD, MPH, Medical Director, Cape Cod Healthcare ACO. “This community alert system has been designed to maintain and honor the privacy of individuals as required by law, while also informing and empowering individuals about hotspots in the region to make the right decisions for preventing the spread of the virus.”

"The Cape Cod Commission is pleased to partner with Cape Cod Healthcare to help share fact-based information during this crisis," said Cape Cod Commission Executive Director Kristy Senatori. "Advanced map-based technology combined with the best available data will help our community better understand and respond to the spread of this virus."

“We continue to encourage people on Cape Cod to refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention information as a source of truth in preventing the spread of COVID-19,” said Sidhartha. The information can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html.

COVID-19 community alert heatmap system will be available on the following websites:

Cape Cod Commission: https://capecodcommission.org/our-work/cape-cod-covid19

Cape Cod Healthcare: https://www.capecodhealth.org/covid-cases

Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment: https://www.barnstablecountyhealth.org/case-numbers-and-figures