Changelog¶

v0.2.2, October 10, 2023¶

New feature: Web requests now identify themselves with a covidcast-specific “user agent” string.
Update: Now uses newer version of the delphi-epidata libarary.
Bug fix: Removed usage of PHP alias endpoint for compatibility with new delphi-epidata version.
Deprecated function: Private method _async_fetch_epidata() has been deprecated.

New feature: This package now supports queries that require an API key. Call covidcast.use_api_key() before running fetch functions to authenticate your requests.

New feature: covidcast.signal() now supports fetching signals using time_type="week" (when available from the Epidata API).
Bug fix: Better detection of API error conditions when queries fail.

New feature: covidcast.signal() can now use asynchronous calls. It is primarily for Delphi internal use; please consult with us if you intend to use this feature.

New feature: covidcast.signal() now retrieves HHS (geo_type="hhs") and nation (geo_type="nation") level signals (if available from the Epidata API).

Bug fix: Fix issue where introduction of weekly signals broke the covidcast.metadata() function.

Bug fix: A shapefile packaging issue, which broke covidcast.plot() for metropolitan statistical areas and hospital referral regions, is now resolved.
Update: Direction is no longer supported and has been removed from the output of covidcast.signal(). To measure increasing or decreasing trends in signals, we recommend implementing your own method based on your application’s specific needs.
New feature: Functions covidcast.fips_to_abbr() and covidcast.abbr_to_fips() to convert between state FIPS codes and their abbreviations.
New feature: Function covidcast.plot() now supports bubble plots with the argument plot_type="bubble"

New feature: Functions covidcast.fips_to_name(), covidcast.cbsa_to_name(), and covidcast.abbr_to_name() are provided to convert FIPS codes, CBSA IDs, and two-letter abbreviations to county names, metropolitan statistical area (MSA) names, and state names, respectively.
New feature: Functions covidcast.name_to_fips(), covidcast.name_to_cbsa(), and covidcast.name_to_fips() are provided to convert human-readable names into FIPS codes, CBSA IDs, and state abbreviations, for use when querying the COVIDcast API.
New feature: Function covidcast.animate() can take a DataFrame returned by covidcast.signal() and generate an animated video of the signal over time.
New feature: Function covidcast.plot_choropleth() can now plot signals for hospital referral regions (HRRs) and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), in addition to states and counties.
New feature: Function covidcast.aggregate_signals() shifts and combines multiple signals into a single DataFrame for convenient signal comparisons across time.
Bug fix: The time_value argument to the covidcast.plot_choropleth() function can now accept datetime datetime and date objects, instead of only pandas Timestamps.
Bug fix: covidcast.signal() no longer returns duplicate values if duplicate geo_values are provided in the function call.
Deprecated function: covidcast.plot_choropleth() has been deprecated and is not replaced by covidcast.plot().

New feature: covidcast.plot_choropleth() and covidcast.get_geo_df() add mapping and plotting capabilities that can be used with the data returned by covidcast.signal(). See the function documentation and plotting examples for more details.

New feature: covidcast.signal() now accepts arguments as_of, issues, and lag to request data that was issued on a specific date, or only the data that was available on a certain date. The default behavior is to return the only most up-to-date data, matching the client’s previous behavior, but users can now request prior versions of data when desired. See the function documentation for more details.

Addition: covidcast.metadata() returns a data frame of all available sources and signals, with metadata about each.

Minor API change: covidcast.signal() now takes a geo_values argument that can include multiple geographies, rather than a single geo_value argument.
Improved documentation.

First public usable release.