A script to check whether PHE have updated their dashboard

Data_alert.R

# Check if we have new data
library(pacman)
p_load("slackr", "naptime", "lubridate")
# Set up a repeating loop
repeat{
  # Check the current time
  start_time <- lubridate::now()
  # Download and read the file
  download.file("https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/downloads/csv/coronavirus-cases_latest.csv", "export/phe_data.csv", method = "libcurl")
  data <- read.csv("export/phe_data.csv")
  # Check if the latest date in the data is yesterday (which means the data has been updated)
  if(max(as.Date(data$Specimen.date)) == Sys.Date()-1) {
    # Send a message to a Slack channel and tag two teams
    slackr_bot("*NEW DATA*: Public Health England have updated the coronavirus dashboard :chart_with_upwards_trend: <@data-and-interactives> <@graphics>", 
               username="Coronavirus Data Bot", channel="#channel",
               incoming_webhook_url="https://hooks.slack.com/services/XXX")
    break
  }
  # No new data? Wait two minutes and try again
  print(paste("No new data as of",Sys.time(),sep=" "))
  naptime(start_time + lubridate::minutes(2))