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What's your risk of going to an event? This tool can help you decide

Georgia Tech researchers created a tool to help you look at the risk associated with things you do every day during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As we talk about reopening, there's a new tool developed by Georgia Tech researchers to help you look at the risk associated with things you do every day.

This is the COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool.

The map shows the risk level of going to an event, given the size and location. You choose how many people are going to be there, then use the drop-down menu to choose a county to zoom in on. 

The risk level is the estimated chance that at least one person with COVID-19 will be at an event in a county, given its size. This does not tell you whether you're going to get sick; it's telling you the chance someone around you may be infected, perhaps asymptomatic.

In Hillsborough County, for example, there is a risk level of 81 percent with 25 guests -- meaning that is the chance that at least one positive COVID-19 person will be in attendance.

Credit: Georgia Tech

"Our hope here is that this information can help people take active steps, personalize and localize the information," said Joshua Weitz, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences and founding director of Georgia Tech’s PH.D. in Quantitative Biosciences program. "It's not just a global pandemic, it's a local pandemic, with local effects. 

"So we're hoping the personalized and county level real-time nature can help people take preventative steps now."

You can look at counties all across the country. 

Researchers hope this helps you decide whether to attend a large event and why you should take precautions. 

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