Time for the 5 data visual we wish we had done for the month of March. This is a monthly article we publish to express our love for data visualizations outside our niche. This month has one theme in mind, and if you have listened to the media, you know it is all about the COVID-19 virus. On a side note, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who have been affected by this pandemic.

1. Why Outbreaks Like Coronavirus Spread Exponentially and How to Flatten the Curve (Washington Post)

This visual is very dynamic in nature. It provides several animated simulations about the different types of approaches to control the COVID-19 from spreading. These little dots just bounce around and start touching other bubbles. But the best part is the small line chart above the simulations blocks.

The line chart displays how the sick, the recovered and the healthy spread over a period of time. After the simulation is run, you get a better understanding of what “flattening the curve” looks like and why these techniques are used to reduce the outbreak. Not only do we love how Washington Post's animated simulation looks, but the visual way they explain how the curve gets flattened.

2. Roads are Emptying Across the World (Financial Times)

With most of the world in lockdown, Financial Times provides a visual display of how the COVID-19 virus lockdown has changed some of the everyday events. One of the most completing charts on this article is the road movement in large cities across the globe. Finance Times provides a chart that shows just how much road traffic has reduced due to the social distancing implementations.

Have you wondered why motion picture producers are trying to release new releases to streaming. The Financial Times also provides a chart that shows how much movie theaters are losing because of the lockdown. Or what about energy consumption? I do not want to ruin this surprise for you, so please go check it out.

3. COVID19 Datapack Dashboard (Information is Beautiful)

If you are like most people and reading everything about the stats of the virus, this is the chart -or charts- for you. These charts break down the data behind different types of factors as it is related to COVID-19. The color combinations for these charts are amazing: the black background makes the orange focus points of the charts pop. And the sky blue tones do a great job keeping the focus on the orange.

These charts create an amazing dashboard that provides insight into different aspects of the COVID-19. And if you thought the media was talking about this pandemic more than others, you would be right. Take a look at the bottom right of the charts to see just how much the COVID-19 is talked about in the media!

4. Global COVID-19 Lockdown Tracker (Aura Vision)

Aura Vision was able to do something pretty amazing in this line chart. They found the average date that most of the world went on lockdown. This chart uses a line spread that has the line highlighted by the phase of the COVID-19 by countries. The chart captures many of the countries have been affected by the COVID-19 virus.

As you scroll down the page, you can see more than a page of little flags of the countries that stretch to the right. And if you are wondering how long the lockdown may last, the chart provides an estimate based upon other countries. The forecast just makes the spread line even longer.

5. Coronavirus by County in the U.S. (University of Chicago)

The University of Chicago took a different approach from fellow university John Hopkins on the COVID-19 (check out the January 2020 article about why we loved John Hopkins Data visual). Their focus is on the clustering of the pandemic across the counties in the United States of America. This interactive chart is a great visual on providing the view with the locational insight of the outbreak.

The color selection keeps with the theme of the USA, red and blue. From the looks of the chart, most major metropolis cities are highlighted in this chart. And since this chart is dynamic, the user can change the type of metric they want to view in the map. It will be interesting to see this chart in the coming weeks, and the pandemic might spread across most of the USA.

That's it for this month of Visuals We Wish He Had Done. Please let us know in the comments the chart you like the most. We will be sure to pass it along to the publishers of these great designs. Do you know a visual you think should have been on the list this month? Let us know!