So you need a COVID stat. Where do you find it?
Start by selecting the scale:
[[Global]]
[[U.S. States]]
[[U.S. Counties->U.S. County Contents]]
[[U.S. Cities/CSBAs (Core-Base Statistical Areas)]][[Cases & Deaths->Global Cases & Deaths]]
[[Testing->Global Testing]]
[[Vaccination->Global Vaccination]][[Cases & Deaths->State Cases & Deaths]]
[[Testing->State Testing]]
[[Hospitalization->State Hospitalization]]
[[Vaccination->State Vaccination]]
[[Demographics (Race & Ethnicity)->State Demo]]
[[Outbreaks->State Outbreaks]][[Cases & Deaths->City Cases & Deaths]]
[[Testing->City Testing]]
[[Hospitalization->City Hospitalization]][[Cases & Deaths->County Cases & Deaths]]
[[Testing->County Testing]]
[[Hospitalization->County Hospitalization]]
[[Outbreaks->County Outbreaks]]<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center</a>
''Available metrics:'' Confirmed cases, deaths, tests, vaccinations
''Available geographies:'' Global (by country); U.S. (by state, by county)
''Where the data come from:'' Johns Hopkins University compilations of data from public health websites (automated); Census; American Community Survey; testing data from the COVID Tracking Project; etc. (Full list of sources is available on Github.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually in the evening EST.
''Time series:'' Back to January 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19">Daily reports available on Github.</a>
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/news">Occasional mentions on JHU Coronavirus News page.</a>
''Use this for:'' Quickly comparing case or death counts in different countries; global time series.
''Notes:'' The JHU tracker was one of the first COVID-19 trackers to start in the U.S. It’s unique in offering both global data and local data for cases, going to the county level.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold"><i>New York Times</i>: Coronavirus in the U.S.</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (confirmed and probable combined), deaths (confirmed and probable combined), excess deaths (on their GitHub), cases in colleges and universities (limited)
''Available geographies:'' For cases and deaths: U.S. states and counties; for excess deaths: select countries and cities.
''Where the data come from:'' <i>NYT</i> reporters checking public health agency websites, monitoring news conferences, analyzing press releases, etc. at both state and county levels.
''Update schedule:'' Daily (updated throughout the day).
''Time series:'' Back to January 2020, though many states and counties have limited data available until mid-March.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://github.com/nytimes/covid-19-data">CSVs available on GitHub.</a>
''Publicity:'' Regular updates and annotations on the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html"><i>NYT</i> landing page</a>; occasional updates on <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes">Twitter</a> and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/coronavirus-briefing"><i>NYT</i> Coronavirus Briefing newsletter</a>.
''Use this for:'' The <i>NYT</i> provides a county-level time series of cases and deaths going back to the end of January, all in one spreadsheet.
''Notes:'' You need to set up coding or calculations to derive daily new cases, though (as the downloaded file provides only cumulative counts). The publication’s COVID-19 landing page includes data visualizations that compare cases across both geography (state- and county-level) and time (March to December), as well as extensive annotations explaining trends in the data.
<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, case and death demographics, vaccinations, human mobility, various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. / For cases, deaths, and tests: national, state, and county; for vaccinations: national and states.
''Where the data come from:'' U.S. states and territories report case and death counts directly to the CDC. Mobility and social impact data come from Google Mobility Reports, Safegraph Social Distancing MEtrics, and Cuebiq Mobility Insights. Worldwide data are also available, sourced from the WHO.
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually in the afternoon EST.
''Downloads:'' Each tab has a “Download Data” button which leads to a CSV download; all underlying datasets (and other COVID-19 data) are <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/browse?tags=covid-19">available at data.cdc.gov</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html">CDC newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Cases, deaths, and testing data, including population-adjusted metrics and <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view">county-level trends</a>. National vaccination count.
''Notes:'' The CDC’s dashboard is not as popular among researchers and reporters as other sources, likely because it was slower to come online; the CDC did not even report COVID-19 testing numbers until May. In recent months, however, it has become a thorough source for testing and outcomes data. It must be noted, however, that the CDC only reports PCR testing—excluding antibody, antigen, and other types of tests. This dashboard is also the most complete source for U.S. vaccination counts.
<a href="https://beta.healthdata.gov/National/COVID-19-Community-Profile-Report/gqxm-d9w9" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID-19 Community Profile Reports</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, demographic details (for context, not COVID-19 stats), hospital utilization (for states), various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. regions, states, counties, and CBSAs (core-based statistical areas, basically metropolitan and micropolitan areas)
''Where the data come from:'' Reports are compiled by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup under the White House COVID-19 Task Force; they use data reported by state public health agencies, the HHS, the CDC, and other national agencies. (Full details in the Excel downloads.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily (usually before 12 PM EST)
''Time series:'' Back to December 17, 2020.
''Downloads:'' See the Excel download links under “Attachments,” at the bottom of the page.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Standardized state-, county-, and CBSA-level data; calculated metrics; demographic values. Use as daily and weekly snapshots, as a time series is not (yet) available.
''Notes:'' The White House COVID-19 Task Force has compiled these Community Profile Reports since the spring, but only started releasing them publicly in mid-December (<a href="https://coviddatadispatch.com/2020/12/20/hhs-releases-long-awaited-national-profile-reports/">see CDD post on the subject</a>). Still, the reports are a key source because they present a ton of standardized state- and county-level data, as well as data for CBSAs—a geographic level which was previously unavailable. A hallmark of the reports is their wealth of calculated metrics: you can see not only raw case numbers for the past week, but also population-adjusted cases, the percent change from the previous week, and more. If you’re a reporter who’d like to pull a quick statistic about your community, the reports make this very easy. Demographic values are also available for context. These reports are most useful for daily and weekly snapshots, rather than a time series, as they present data for only one week at a time.
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">CDC Provisional Death Counts for COVID-19</a>
''Available metrics:'' Deaths (confirmed or suspected), excess deaths
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and counties
''Where the data come from:'' Death certificates, processed by state public health agencies and submitted to the CDC through the National Vital Statistics System
''Update schedule:'' Totals by week and state updated Monday-Friday by 12 PM EST; all other data updated weekly on Wednesdays by 5 PM EST.
''Time series:'' Back to February 2020.
''Downloads:'' See “Click to download” buttons on specific dataset pages.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html">CDC newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' This CDC source is the most complete reporting of deaths due to COVID-19. In addition to data by state and by county, you can find data for different demographic groups (age, race, ethnicity) and comorbidities associated with COVID-19.
''Notes:'' These numbers tend to lag death counts from other sources, as it can take weeks for death records to be submitted and properly processed in the CDC’s system. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm">Excess death counts</a> show how many deaths occurred in 2020 compared to averages from recent years—such counts may be used to estimate the true impact of the pandemic. <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, case and death demographics, vaccinations, human mobility, various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. / For cases, deaths, and tests: national, state, and county; for vaccinations: national and states.
''Where the data come from:'' U.S. states and territories report case and death counts directly to the CDC. Mobility and social impact data come from Google Mobility Reports, Safegraph Social Distancing MEtrics, and Cuebiq Mobility Insights. Worldwide data are also available, sourced from the WHO.
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually in the afternoon EST.
''Downloads:'' Each tab has a “Download Data” button which leads to a CSV download; all underlying datasets (and other COVID-19 data) are <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/browse?tags=covid-19">available at data.cdc.gov</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html">CDC newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Cases, deaths, and testing data, including population-adjusted metrics and <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view">county-level trends</a>. National vaccination count.
''Notes:'' The CDC’s dashboard is not as popular among researchers and reporters as other sources, likely because it was slower to come online; the CDC did not even report COVID-19 testing numbers until May. In recent months, however, it has become a thorough source for testing and outcomes data. It must be noted, however, that the CDC only reports PCR testing—excluding antibody, antigen, and other types of tests. This dashboard is also the most complete source for U.S. vaccination counts.
<a href="https://beta.healthdata.gov/National/COVID-19-Community-Profile-Report/gqxm-d9w9" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID-19 Community Profile Reports</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, demographic details (for context, not COVID-19 stats), hospital utilization (for states), various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. regions, states, counties, and CBSAs (core-based statistical areas, basically metropolitan and micropolitan areas)
''Where the data come from:'' Reports are compiled by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup under the White House COVID-19 Task Force; they use data reported by state public health agencies, the HHS, the CDC, and other national agencies. (Full details in the Excel downloads.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily (usually before 12 PM EST)
''Time series:'' Back to December 17, 2020.
''Downloads:'' See the Excel download links under “Attachments,” at the bottom of the page.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Standardized state-, county-, and CBSA-level data; calculated metrics; demographic values. Use as daily and weekly snapshots, as a time series is not (yet) available.
''Notes:'' The White House COVID-19 Task Force has compiled these Community Profile Reports since the spring, but only started releasing them publicly in mid-December (<a href="https://coviddatadispatch.com/2020/12/20/hhs-releases-long-awaited-national-profile-reports/">see CDD post on the subject</a>). Still, the reports are a key source because they present a ton of standardized state- and county-level data, as well as data for CBSAs—a geographic level which was previously unavailable. A hallmark of the reports is their wealth of calculated metrics: you can see not only raw case numbers for the past week, but also population-adjusted cases, the percent change from the previous week, and more. If you’re a reporter who’d like to pull a quick statistic about your community, the reports make this very easy. Demographic values are also available for context. These reports are most useful for daily and weekly snapshots, rather than a time series, as they present data for only one week at a time.
<a href="https://data.cms.gov/stories/s/q5r5-gjyu" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Center for Medicare & Medicaid Statistics (CMS) Test Positivity Rates</a>
''Available metrics:'' PCR tests in prior 14 days, PCR test positivity
''Available geographies:'' U.S. counties
''Where the data come from:'' Similarly to the HHS testing dataset, these county-level data are sourced from state public health departments or directly from COVID-19 testing labs, depending on the state’s electronic reporting system.
''Update schedule:'' Weekly on Wednesdays (with data from the preceding 14 days).
''Time series:'' Back to mid-August 2020.
''Downloads:'' Excel files linked on the archive page.
''Publicity:'' None.
''Use this for:'' County-level testing figures, especially if you want a time series.
''Notes:'' The CMS posts this dataset as a resource for nursing home administrators, who are required to test residents and staff regularly based on the prevalence of COVID-19 in the communities around their facilities. Before the HHS started releasing Community Profile Reports, though, it was also the only source for standardized county-level testing data. (See the CDD post on this dataset’s release.) The weekly reports go back to mid-August, so a time series of several months may be constructed. The reports also include population-adjusted testing numbers and test positivity classifications, sorting counties as green, yellow, or red.[[Nursing Homes->County Nursing Homes]]
[[Prisons->County Prisons]]<a href="https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/covid19-module" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">HHS Protect: Hospitalization data</a>
''Available metrics:'' Hospital capacity and utilization data, including bed counts (inpatient and ICU), COVID-19 patient counts (confirmed and suspected cases), new COVID-19 admissions, emergency department visits, hospital shortages (state level), and more.
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and individual facilities (facilities may be matched up to counties, CBSAs, healthcare jurisdictions, etc.)
''Where the data come from:'' Hospitals report a number of metrics daily; data are sent to the HHS either by hospitals themselves or by state public health departments and hospital associations which aggregate the data on the hospitals’ behalf.
''Update schedule:'' State dataset is updated daily; facility dataset is updated weekly on Mondays (including data from the preceding Friday through Thursday).
''Time series:'' Back to mid-July 2020; data become more complete and reliable towards the end of August.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-state">State dataset (previous day only)</a>; <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-state-timeseries">state dataset (time series)</a>; <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-facility">facility dataset</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Tracking how COVID-19 is impacting hospitals in the U.S., at any geographic level.
''Notes:'' The facility dataset in particular offers an intense level of granularity: data are included for over 4,000 individual hospitals, which may be matched up to states, counties, ZIP codes, and other geographic regions. Both the state- and facility-level datasets go back to July, when the HHS took over hospital data collection from the CDC. See the CDD post on the facility-level dataset’s release for more info.Double-click this passage to edit it.<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center</a>
''Available metrics:'' Confirmed cases, deaths, tests, vaccinations
''Available geographies:'' Global (by country); U.S. (by state, by county)
''Where the data come from:'' Johns Hopkins University compilations of data from public health websites (automated); Census; American Community Survey; testing data from the COVID Tracking Project; etc. (Full list of sources is available on Github.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually in the evening EST.
''Time series:'' Back to January 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19">Daily reports available on Github.</a>
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/news">Occasional mentions on JHU Coronavirus News page.</a>
''Use this for:'' Quickly comparing case or death counts in different countries; global time series.
''Notes:'' The JHU tracker was one of the first COVID-19 trackers to start in the U.S. It’s unique in offering both global data and local data for cases, going to the county level.
<a href="https://covidtracking.com/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">The COVID Tracking Project at <i>The Atlantic</i></a>
''Available metrics (Testing and Outcomes dataset):'' Cases (confirmed and probable), deaths (confirmed and probable), tests (PCR, antibody, antigen), hospitalizations (total, in ICU, on ventilators), recoveries
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and territories
''Where the data come from:'' Compiled manually from state public health websites. Every data point is checked and double-checked by human volunteers.
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually between 6 and 7:30 P.M. EST.
''Time series:'' Back to late January 2020, though most states have limited data available until mid-March.
''Downloads:'' Data are available <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/api">in an API</a> and in <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/download">CSV files</a> that include full time series for every state.
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://twitter.com/COVID19Tracking">Daily notices on Twitter when the day’s update is published</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates/category/weekly-update">weekly summaries posted every Thursday</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/about/newsletter#subscribe-to-updates">a weekly newsletter</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates">assorted other updates and analysis</a>.
''Use this for:'' If you want testing data for the U.S., this is the best place to get it. The COVID Tracking Project compiles all available testing metrics, sorted by test type (PCR, antibody, antigen) and unit (specimens, people, encounters). But wait—there’s more! The Project also has a uniquely complete time series of hospitalization data, though not all states were reporting current COVID-19 hospitalizations until the summer. The API is useful if you’re a CS/product type looking to build an app. The <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/charts">charts page</a> provides national, regional, and state-by-state graphics, which any journalist may use with an appropriate citation.
''Notes:'' The Project’s extensive documentation and analysis include a wealth of useful methodology details, from <a href="https://covidtracking.com/about-data/total-tests">every state’s COVID-19 test reporting</a> to <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRpgAzsSuN9BGtPv8DXMoct3lIRSpmHeFzzI0J7Sc1Ym68RP89QTSFJp4UBFuPMxpdlHpAGKBOtLHIG/pubhtml">public notes</a> on where every metric in the dataset is sourced. This entry focuses on the Project’s main Testing and Outcomes dataset; see notes for the COVID Racial Data Tracker and the Long-Term Care COVID Tracker below.
In this reference sheet, I focused on the Project’s main Testing and Outcomes dataset. The Project also compiles the <a href="https://covidtracking.com/race">COVID Racial Data Tracker</a> and the <href="https://covidtracking.com/data/long-term-care">Long-Term Care COVID Tracker</a>. The former tracks state COVID-19 case and death counts by race and ethnicity; the latter tracks state counts in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold"><i>New York Times</i>: Coronavirus in the U.S.</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (confirmed and probable combined), deaths (confirmed and probable combined), excess deaths (on their GitHub), cases in colleges and universities (limited)
''Available geographies:'' For cases and deaths: U.S. states and counties; for excess deaths: select countries and cities.
''Where the data come from:'' <i>NYT</i> reporters checking public health agency websites, monitoring news conferences, analyzing press releases, etc. at both state and county levels.
''Update schedule:'' Daily (updated throughout the day).
''Time series:'' Back to January 2020, though many states and counties have limited data available until mid-March.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://github.com/nytimes/covid-19-data">CSVs available on GitHub.</a>
''Publicity:'' Regular updates and annotations on the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html"><i>NYT</i> landing page</a>; occasional updates on <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes">Twitter</a> and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/coronavirus-briefing"><i>NYT</i> Coronavirus Briefing newsletter</a>.
''Use this for:'' The <i>NYT</i> provides a county-level time series of cases and deaths going back to the end of January, all in one spreadsheet.
''Notes:'' You need to set up coding or calculations to derive daily new cases, though (as the downloaded file provides only cumulative counts). The publication’s COVID-19 landing page includes data visualizations that compare cases across both geography (state- and county-level) and time (March to December), as well as extensive annotations explaining trends in the data.
<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, case and death demographics, vaccinations, human mobility, various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. / For cases, deaths, and tests: national, state, and county; for vaccinations: national and states.
''Where the data come from:'' U.S. states and territories report case and death counts directly to the CDC. Mobility and social impact data come from Google Mobility Reports, Safegraph Social Distancing MEtrics, and Cuebiq Mobility Insights. Worldwide data are also available, sourced from the WHO.
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually in the afternoon EST.
''Downloads:'' Each tab has a “Download Data” button which leads to a CSV download; all underlying datasets (and other COVID-19 data) are <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/browse?tags=covid-19">available at data.cdc.gov</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html">CDC newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Cases, deaths, and testing data, including population-adjusted metrics and <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view">county-level trends</a>. National vaccination count.
''Notes:'' The CDC’s dashboard is not as popular among researchers and reporters as other sources, likely because it was slower to come online; the CDC did not even report COVID-19 testing numbers until May. In recent months, however, it has become a thorough source for testing and outcomes data. It must be noted, however, that the CDC only reports PCR testing—excluding antibody, antigen, and other types of tests. This dashboard is also the most complete source for U.S. vaccination counts.
<a href="https://beta.healthdata.gov/National/COVID-19-Community-Profile-Report/gqxm-d9w9" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID-19 Community Profile Reports</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, demographic details (for context, not COVID-19 stats), hospital utilization (for states), various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. regions, states, counties, and CBSAs (core-based statistical areas, basically metropolitan and micropolitan areas)
''Where the data come from:'' Reports are compiled by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup under the White House COVID-19 Task Force; they use data reported by state public health agencies, the HHS, the CDC, and other national agencies. (Full details in the Excel downloads.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily (usually before 12 PM EST)
''Time series:'' Back to December 17, 2020.
''Downloads:'' See the Excel download links under “Attachments,” at the bottom of the page.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Standardized state-, county-, and CBSA-level data; calculated metrics; demographic values. Use as daily and weekly snapshots, as a time series is not (yet) available.
''Notes:'' The White House COVID-19 Task Force has compiled these Community Profile Reports since the spring, but only started releasing them publicly in mid-December (<a href="https://coviddatadispatch.com/2020/12/20/hhs-releases-long-awaited-national-profile-reports/">see CDD post on the subject</a>). Still, the reports are a key source because they present a ton of standardized state- and county-level data, as well as data for CBSAs—a geographic level which was previously unavailable. A hallmark of the reports is their wealth of calculated metrics: you can see not only raw case numbers for the past week, but also population-adjusted cases, the percent change from the previous week, and more. If you’re a reporter who’d like to pull a quick statistic about your community, the reports make this very easy. Demographic values are also available for context. These reports are most useful for daily and weekly snapshots, rather than a time series, as they present data for only one week at a time.
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">CDC Provisional Death Counts for COVID-19</a>
''Available metrics:'' Deaths (confirmed or suspected), excess deaths
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and counties
''Where the data come from:'' Death certificates, processed by state public health agencies and submitted to the CDC through the National Vital Statistics System
''Update schedule:'' Totals by week and state updated Monday-Friday by 12 PM EST; all other data updated weekly on Wednesdays by 5 PM EST.
''Time series:'' Back to February 2020.
''Downloads:'' See “Click to download” buttons on specific dataset pages.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html">CDC newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' This CDC source is the most complete reporting of deaths due to COVID-19. In addition to data by state and by county, you can find data for different demographic groups (age, race, ethnicity) and comorbidities associated with COVID-19.
''Notes:'' These numbers tend to lag death counts from other sources, as it can take weeks for death records to be submitted and properly processed in the CDC’s system. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm">Excess death counts</a> show how many deaths occurred in 2020 compared to averages from recent years—such counts may be used to estimate the true impact of the pandemic. <a href="https://covidtracking.com/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">The COVID Tracking Project at <i>The Atlantic</i></a>
''Available metrics (Testing and Outcomes dataset):'' Cases (confirmed and probable), deaths (confirmed and probable), tests (PCR, antibody, antigen), hospitalizations (total, in ICU, on ventilators), recoveries
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and territories
''Where the data come from:'' Compiled manually from state public health websites. Every data point is checked and double-checked by human volunteers.
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually between 6 and 7:30 P.M. EST.
''Time series:'' Back to late January 2020, though most states have limited data available until mid-March.
''Downloads:'' Data are available <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/api">in an API</a> and in <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/download">CSV files</a> that include full time series for every state.
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://twitter.com/COVID19Tracking">Daily notices on Twitter when the day’s update is published</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates/category/weekly-update">weekly summaries posted every Thursday</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/about/newsletter#subscribe-to-updates">a weekly newsletter</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates">assorted other updates and analysis</a>.
''Use this for:'' If you want testing data for the U.S., this is the best place to get it. The COVID Tracking Project compiles all available testing metrics, sorted by test type (PCR, antibody, antigen) and unit (specimens, people, encounters). But wait—there’s more! The Project also has a uniquely complete time series of hospitalization data, though not all states were reporting current COVID-19 hospitalizations until the summer. The API is useful if you’re a CS/product type looking to build an app. The <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/charts">charts page</a> provides national, regional, and state-by-state graphics, which any journalist may use with an appropriate citation.
''Notes:'' The Project’s extensive documentation and analysis include a wealth of useful methodology details, from <a href="https://covidtracking.com/about-data/total-tests">every state’s COVID-19 test reporting</a> to <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRpgAzsSuN9BGtPv8DXMoct3lIRSpmHeFzzI0J7Sc1Ym68RP89QTSFJp4UBFuPMxpdlHpAGKBOtLHIG/pubhtml">public notes</a> on where every metric in the dataset is sourced. This entry focuses on the Project’s main Testing and Outcomes dataset; see notes for the COVID Racial Data Tracker and the Long-Term Care COVID Tracker below.
In this reference sheet, I focused on the Project’s main Testing and Outcomes dataset. The Project also compiles the <a href="https://covidtracking.com/race">COVID Racial Data Tracker</a> and the <href="https://covidtracking.com/data/long-term-care">Long-Term Care COVID Tracker</a>. The former tracks state COVID-19 case and death counts by race and ethnicity; the latter tracks state counts in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, case and death demographics, vaccinations, human mobility, various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. / For cases, deaths, and tests: national, state, and county; for vaccinations: national and states.
''Where the data come from:'' U.S. states and territories report case and death counts directly to the CDC. Mobility and social impact data come from Google Mobility Reports, Safegraph Social Distancing MEtrics, and Cuebiq Mobility Insights. Worldwide data are also available, sourced from the WHO.
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually in the afternoon EST.
''Downloads:'' Each tab has a “Download Data” button which leads to a CSV download; all underlying datasets (and other COVID-19 data) are <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/browse?tags=covid-19">available at data.cdc.gov</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html">CDC newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Cases, deaths, and testing data, including population-adjusted metrics and <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view">county-level trends</a>. National vaccination count.
''Notes:'' The CDC’s dashboard is not as popular among researchers and reporters as other sources, likely because it was slower to come online; the CDC did not even report COVID-19 testing numbers until May. In recent months, however, it has become a thorough source for testing and outcomes data. It must be noted, however, that the CDC only reports PCR testing—excluding antibody, antigen, and other types of tests. This dashboard is also the most complete source for U.S. vaccination counts.
<a href="https://beta.healthdata.gov/National/COVID-19-Community-Profile-Report/gqxm-d9w9" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID-19 Community Profile Reports</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, demographic details (for context, not COVID-19 stats), hospital utilization (for states), various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. regions, states, counties, and CBSAs (core-based statistical areas, basically metropolitan and micropolitan areas)
''Where the data come from:'' Reports are compiled by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup under the White House COVID-19 Task Force; they use data reported by state public health agencies, the HHS, the CDC, and other national agencies. (Full details in the Excel downloads.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily (usually before 12 PM EST)
''Time series:'' Back to December 17, 2020.
''Downloads:'' See the Excel download links under “Attachments,” at the bottom of the page.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Standardized state-, county-, and CBSA-level data; calculated metrics; demographic values. Use as daily and weekly snapshots, as a time series is not (yet) available.
''Notes:'' The White House COVID-19 Task Force has compiled these Community Profile Reports since the spring, but only started releasing them publicly in mid-December (<a href="https://coviddatadispatch.com/2020/12/20/hhs-releases-long-awaited-national-profile-reports/">see CDD post on the subject</a>). Still, the reports are a key source because they present a ton of standardized state- and county-level data, as well as data for CBSAs—a geographic level which was previously unavailable. A hallmark of the reports is their wealth of calculated metrics: you can see not only raw case numbers for the past week, but also population-adjusted cases, the percent change from the previous week, and more. If you’re a reporter who’d like to pull a quick statistic about your community, the reports make this very easy. Demographic values are also available for context. These reports are most useful for daily and weekly snapshots, rather than a time series, as they present data for only one week at a time.
<a href="https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/national-testing" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">HHS Protect: Testing data</a>
''Available metrics:'' PCR tests
''Available geographies:'' U.S. state
''Where the data come from:'' Reports from COVID-19 testing labs; either submitted from state public health departments or from commercial labs, public health labs, and in-house hospital labs (depending on the state).
''Update schedule:'' Daily (timing varies).
''Time series:'' Back to March 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-diagnostic-laboratory-testing-pcr-testing-time-series">Download the full time series here.</a>
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Here’s your government-sanctioned COVID-19 testing time series. The dataset includes PCR test results (both daily new results and totals), sorted by state and outcome (positive, negative, or inconclusive).
''Notes:'' While every test results entry contains a date, these dates should be used with caution: the data documentation notes that a date may refer to a) the date the test was completed, b) the date the result was reported to the patient, c) the date the specimen was collected, d) the date the specimen arrived at the testing facility, or e) the date the test was ordered. The HHS has yet to release a comparable dataset on antibody, antigen, or other test types.<a href="https://covidtracking.com/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">The COVID Tracking Project at <i>The Atlantic</i></a>
''Available metrics (Testing and Outcomes dataset):'' Cases (confirmed and probable), deaths (confirmed and probable), tests (PCR, antibody, antigen), hospitalizations (total, in ICU, on ventilators), recoveries
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and territories
''Where the data come from:'' Compiled manually from state public health websites. Every data point is checked and double-checked by human volunteers.
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually between 6 and 7:30 P.M. EST.
''Time series:'' Back to late January 2020, though most states have limited data available until mid-March.
''Downloads:'' Data are available <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/api">in an API</a> and in <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/download">CSV files</a> that include full time series for every state.
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://twitter.com/COVID19Tracking">Daily notices on Twitter when the day’s update is published</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates/category/weekly-update">weekly summaries posted every Thursday</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/about/newsletter#subscribe-to-updates">a weekly newsletter</a>; <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates">assorted other updates and analysis</a>.
''Use this for:'' If you want testing data for the U.S., this is the best place to get it. The COVID Tracking Project compiles all available testing metrics, sorted by test type (PCR, antibody, antigen) and unit (specimens, people, encounters). But wait—there’s more! The Project also has a uniquely complete time series of hospitalization data, though not all states were reporting current COVID-19 hospitalizations until the summer. The API is useful if you’re a CS/product type looking to build an app. The <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/charts">charts page</a> provides national, regional, and state-by-state graphics, which any journalist may use with an appropriate citation.
''Notes:'' The Project’s extensive documentation and analysis include a wealth of useful methodology details, from <a href="https://covidtracking.com/about-data/total-tests">every state’s COVID-19 test reporting</a> to <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRpgAzsSuN9BGtPv8DXMoct3lIRSpmHeFzzI0J7Sc1Ym68RP89QTSFJp4UBFuPMxpdlHpAGKBOtLHIG/pubhtml">public notes</a> on where every metric in the dataset is sourced. This entry focuses on the Project’s main Testing and Outcomes dataset; see notes for the COVID Racial Data Tracker and the Long-Term Care COVID Tracker below.
In this reference sheet, I focused on the Project’s main Testing and Outcomes dataset. The Project also compiles the <a href="https://covidtracking.com/race">COVID Racial Data Tracker</a> and the <href="https://covidtracking.com/data/long-term-care">Long-Term Care COVID Tracker</a>. The former tracks state COVID-19 case and death counts by race and ethnicity; the latter tracks state counts in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
<a href="https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/covid19-module" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">HHS Protect: Hospitalization data</a>
''Available metrics:'' Hospital capacity and utilization data, including bed counts (inpatient and ICU), COVID-19 patient counts (confirmed and suspected cases), new COVID-19 admissions, emergency department visits, hospital shortages (state level), and more.
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and individual facilities (facilities may be matched up to counties, CBSAs, healthcare jurisdictions, etc.)
''Where the data come from:'' Hospitals report a number of metrics daily; data are sent to the HHS either by hospitals themselves or by state public health departments and hospital associations which aggregate the data on the hospitals’ behalf.
''Update schedule:'' State dataset is updated daily; facility dataset is updated weekly on Mondays (including data from the preceding Friday through Thursday).
''Time series:'' Back to mid-July 2020; data become more complete and reliable towards the end of August.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-state">State dataset (previous day only)</a>; <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-state-timeseries">state dataset (time series)</a>; <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-facility">facility dataset</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Tracking how COVID-19 is impacting hospitals in the U.S., at any geographic level.
''Notes:'' The facility dataset in particular offers an intense level of granularity: data are included for over 4,000 individual hospitals, which may be matched up to states, counties, ZIP codes, and other geographic regions. Both the state- and facility-level datasets go back to July, when the HHS took over hospital data collection from the CDC. See the CDD post on the facility-level dataset’s release for more info.<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, case and death demographics, vaccinations, human mobility, various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. / For cases, deaths, and tests: national, state, and county; for vaccinations: national and states.
''Where the data come from:'' U.S. states and territories report case and death counts directly to the CDC. Mobility and social impact data come from Google Mobility Reports, Safegraph Social Distancing MEtrics, and Cuebiq Mobility Insights. Worldwide data are also available, sourced from the WHO.
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually in the afternoon EST.
''Downloads:'' Each tab has a “Download Data” button which leads to a CSV download; all underlying datasets (and other COVID-19 data) are <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/browse?tags=covid-19">available at data.cdc.gov</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html">CDC newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Cases, deaths, and testing data, including population-adjusted metrics and <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view">county-level trends</a>. National vaccination count.
''Notes:'' The CDC’s dashboard is not as popular among researchers and reporters as other sources, likely because it was slower to come online; the CDC did not even report COVID-19 testing numbers until May. In recent months, however, it has become a thorough source for testing and outcomes data. It must be noted, however, that the CDC only reports PCR testing—excluding antibody, antigen, and other types of tests. This dashboard is also the most complete source for U.S. vaccination counts.<a href="https://covidtracking.com/race" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">The COVID Tracking Project’s COVID Racial Data Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases and deaths by race and ethnicity; limited hospitalizations and tests by race and ethnicity.
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states
''Where the data come from:'' Compiled manually from state public health websites. Every data point is checked and double-checked by human volunteers.
''Update schedule:'' Biweekly on Wednesdays and Sundays, updated around 11 PM EST.
''Time series:'' Back to April 12, 2020.
''Downloads:'' Most recent cumulative data available in a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vR_xmYt4ACPDZCDJcY12kCiMiH0ODyx3E1ZvgOHB8ae1tRcjXbs_yWBOA4j4uoCEADVfC1PS2jYO68B/pubhtml#">Google Sheet</a>; historical data in a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vS8SzaERcKJOD_EzrtCDK1dX1zkoMochlA9iHoHg_RSw3V8bkpfk1mpw4pfL5RdtSOyx_oScsUtyXyk/pub?gid=43720681&single=true&output=csv">CSV</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional mentions on the <a href="https://twitter.com/AntiracismCtr">Center for Antiracist Research Twitter account</a>, on the <a href="https://twitter.com/COVID19Tracking">Project’s Twitter account</a> and in <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates">other updates and analysis posts</a>.
''Use this for:'' The most complete, consistent* data on how COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting people of color in the U.S.
''Notes:'' The most complete, consistent data are still fairly incomplete and inconsistent. While some states report their demographic COVID-19 data using standard Census categories, others use a variety of unique categories which are not directly comparable. Some states only report demographic information for a small fraction of their cases and deaths. New York City and the remainder of the state report demographic information separately (and the state doesn’t report demographic information for cases). The <a href="https://covidtracking.com/race/dashboard">Racial Data Dashboard</a> includes annotations on each state’s reporting practices. Hospitalization data and testing data are available for a limited number of states, but are not presented on the dashboard; you’ll need to go into the downloadable files to see these figures.
<a href="https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">American Public Media (APM) Research Lab: COVID-19 Deaths by Race and Ethnicity</a>
''Available metrics:'' Deaths by race and ethnicity
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states
''Where the data come from:'' Compiled by APM Research Lab staff using state public health websites and the CDC National Center for Health Statistics; <a href="https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race#reporting">more methodology details here</a>.
''Update schedule:'' Every two weeks on Thursdays.
''Time series:'' Back to April 13, 2020.
''Downloads:'' Download links available on the landing page.
''Publicity:'' Occasional updates on the <a href="https://twitter.com/APMResearch">APM Research Lab Twitter Account</a>.
''Use this for:'' Data specifically examining COVID-19 deaths by race and ethnicity. The APM Research Lab also provides substantial analysis and charts, which may be referenced in reporting.
''Notes:'' While this source has focused on a single metric, their analysis and advocacy have been instrumental in calling attention to COVID-19 disparity in the U.S.
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">CDC Provisional Death Counts for COVID-19</a>
''Available metrics:'' Deaths (confirmed or suspected), excess deaths
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and counties
''Where the data come from:'' Death certificates, processed by state public health agencies and submitted to the CDC through the National Vital Statistics System
''Update schedule:'' Totals by week and state updated Monday-Friday by 12 PM EST; all other data updated weekly on Wednesdays by 5 PM EST.
''Time series:'' Back to February 2020.
''Downloads:'' See “Click to download” buttons on specific dataset pages.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html">CDC newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' This CDC source is the most complete reporting of deaths due to COVID-19. In addition to data by state and by county, you can find data for different demographic groups (age, race, ethnicity) and comorbidities associated with COVID-19.
''Notes:'' These numbers tend to lag death counts from other sources, as it can take weeks for death records to be submitted and properly processed in the CDC’s system. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm">Excess death counts</a> show how many deaths occurred in 2020 compared to averages from recent years—such counts may be used to estimate the true impact of the pandemic. [[Nursing Homes->State Nursing Homes]]
[[Prisons->State Prisons]]<a href="https://data.cms.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-Nursing-Home-Data/bkwz-xpvg" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">CMS COVID-19 Nursing Home Data</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (confirmed and suspected, broken out by residents and staff), deaths (residents and staff), bed occupancy, various metrics on the availability and performance of testing and PPE
''Available geographies:'' Individual facilities (may be matched up to states, counties, etc.)
''Where the data come from:'' Registered nursing home facilities report directly to the CMS on a weekly basis.
''Update schedule:'' Weekly on Wednesdays, with data from the Monday to Sunday 10 days prior.
''Time series:'' Back to mid-May 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://data.cms.gov/Special-Programs-Initiatives-COVID-19-Nursing-Home/COVID-19-Nursing-Home-Dataset/s2uc-8wxp">Full time series available here.</a>
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom">CMS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Evaluating outbreaks and safety precautions taken in individual nursing home facilities or at the state- and county-levels. States, addresses, and CMS Certification Numbers are provided for each facility.
''Notes:'' The CMS offers a ton of metrics on PPE, testing, and precautions, which makes it possible to evaluate how a particular facility has fared over time. Actual test numbers are not reported, however, only a variety of yes/no and multiple choice metrics indicating the facility’s testing access and whether testing has recently taken place. Due to the significant time lag of the data (10 days from report to publication), recent figures should be used with caution. It’s also important to note that this dataset only includes nursing homes, not the various other types of assisted living facilities; see the COVID Tracking Project dataset (below) for this information.Double-click this passage to edit it.<a href="https://uclacovidbehindbars.org/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Law Covid-19 Behind Bars Data Project</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases, deaths, jail and prison releases, COVID-19-related legal filings, organizing efforts
''Available geographies:'' Individual facilities (may be matched up to states, counties, etc.); including prisons and jails
''Where the data come from:'' Compiled by UCLA and volunteer researchers with a combination of web scraping and manual data collection, sourced from government data, legal filings, court orders, media reports, etc; <a href="https://uclacovidbehindbars.org/about">more details here</a>.
''Update schedule:'' Multiple times a week (usually on weekdays)
''Time series:'' Data have been collected back to April 2020, but only cumulative counts are currently available.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X6uJkXXS-O6eePLxw2e4JeRtM41uPZ2eRcOA_HkPVTk/edit#gid=1641553906">Cumulative data available in a Google Sheet</a>; <a href="https://github.com/uclalawcovid19behindbars/data#ucla-law-covid-19-behind-bars-data-project">GitHub page under development</a>.
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://twitter.com/uclaprisondata">Updates and related news on Twitter</a>; weekly newsletter available (linked on the site).
''Use this for:'' Comprehensive data on how COVID-19 is impacting individual prison and jail facilities, as well as wider geographies.
''Notes:'' Since its inception in the spring, this Project has grown increasingly comprehensive in compiling data on cases and deaths in prisons and jails, population reductions, legal filings, immigration cases, and even grassroots efforts aimed at supporting incarcerated populations. It’s a great resource for any local reporter writing about COVID-19 in the carceral system in their community. <a href="https://uclacovidbehindbars.org/">The Project’s website</a> (new as of mid-December) hosts a wealth of analysis and visualizations of its data.<a href="https://data.cms.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-Nursing-Home-Data/bkwz-xpvg" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">CMS COVID-19 Nursing Home Data</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (confirmed and suspected, broken out by residents and staff), deaths (residents and staff), bed occupancy, various metrics on the availability and performance of testing and PPE
''Available geographies:'' Individual facilities (may be matched up to states, counties, etc.)
''Where the data come from:'' Registered nursing home facilities report directly to the CMS on a weekly basis.
''Update schedule:'' Weekly on Wednesdays, with data from the Monday to Sunday 10 days prior.
''Time series:'' Back to mid-May 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://data.cms.gov/Special-Programs-Initiatives-COVID-19-Nursing-Home/COVID-19-Nursing-Home-Dataset/s2uc-8wxp">Full time series available here.</a>
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom">CMS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Evaluating outbreaks and safety precautions taken in individual nursing home facilities or at the state- and county-levels. States, addresses, and CMS Certification Numbers are provided for each facility.
''Notes:'' The CMS offers a ton of metrics on PPE, testing, and precautions, which makes it possible to evaluate how a particular facility has fared over time. Actual test numbers are not reported, however, only a variety of yes/no and multiple choice metrics indicating the facility’s testing access and whether testing has recently taken place. Due to the significant time lag of the data (10 days from report to publication), recent figures should be used with caution. It’s also important to note that this dataset only includes nursing homes, not the various other types of assisted living facilities; see the COVID Tracking Project dataset (below) for this information.
<a href="https://covidtracking.com/data/long-term-care" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">The COVID Tracking Project’s Long-Term Care COVID Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (residents and staff) and deaths (residents and staff) at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities (available facility types vary by state).
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states, individual facilities (where available).
''Where the data come from:'' Compiled manually from state public health websites. Every data point is checked and double-checked by human volunteers.
''Update schedule:'' Weekly on Fridays.
''Time series:'' Back to May 21, 2020.
''Downloads:'' Linked from the homepage (below the cumulative statistics).
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates/category/long-term-care">Weekly summaries posted every Wednesday</a>; occasional mentions on the <a href="https://twitter.com/COVID19Tracking">Project’s Twitter account</a> and in <a href="https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates">other updates and analysis posts</a>.
''Use this for:'' The most complete* available counts of cases and deaths in U.S. long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and other care homes.
''Notes:'' “Most complete” is still a far cry from fully complete. Some states report data only for some types of facilities, and some states only report “current outbreaks” rather than cumulative numbers. Some report at the individual facility level, while many do not. New York state, as one example, is still not reporting cases in LTC facilities. The COVID Tracking Project has made extensive documentation available to help users understand the limitations of this dataset.Double-click this passage to edit it.<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold"><i>The Marshall Project</i>: A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases, deaths, recoveries (limited), tests (limited), all broken out by prisoners and staff.
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states
''Where the data come from:'' Reporters from Marshall Project and the Associated Press contact each state prison directly every week and verify public figures with officials.
''Update schedule:'' Weekly; update days vary by state.
''Time series:'' Back to late March 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://data.world/associatedpress/marshall-project-covid-cases-in-prisons">All COVID-19 data, along with prison rates and prison populations, available on data.world.</a>
''Publicity:'' Regular updates and annotations on the landing page; occasional updates in <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/subscribe">the Marshall Project’s newsletters</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/marshallproj">Twitter</a>.
''Use this for:'' State-level data on how COVID-19 is impacting prisons in the U.S. The landing page hosts analysis and interactive graphics that allow you to easily find statistics for your state.
''Notes:'' In addition to compiling this database, the Marshall Project has produced <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/coronavirus">regular coverage of COVID-19’s impact on incarceration</a> in the U.S. A December 18 article calls attention to the virus’ disproportionate toll with the headline: <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/18/1-in-5-prisoners-in-the-u-s-has-had-covid-19">“1 in 5 Prisoners in the U.S. Has Had COVID-19.”</a>
<a href="https://uclacovidbehindbars.org/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Law Covid-19 Behind Bars Data Project</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases, deaths, jail and prison releases, COVID-19-related legal filings, organizing efforts
''Available geographies:'' Individual facilities (may be matched up to states, counties, etc.); including prisons and jails
''Where the data come from:'' Compiled by UCLA and volunteer researchers with a combination of web scraping and manual data collection, sourced from government data, legal filings, court orders, media reports, etc; <a href="https://uclacovidbehindbars.org/about">more details here</a>.
''Update schedule:'' Multiple times a week (usually on weekdays)
''Time series:'' Data have been collected back to April 2020, but only cumulative counts are currently available.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X6uJkXXS-O6eePLxw2e4JeRtM41uPZ2eRcOA_HkPVTk/edit#gid=1641553906">Cumulative data available in a Google Sheet</a>; <a href="https://github.com/uclalawcovid19behindbars/data#ucla-law-covid-19-behind-bars-data-project">GitHub page under development</a>.
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://twitter.com/uclaprisondata">Updates and related news on Twitter</a>; weekly newsletter available (linked on the site).
''Use this for:'' Comprehensive data on how COVID-19 is impacting individual prison and jail facilities, as well as wider geographies.
''Notes:'' Since its inception in the spring, this Project has grown increasingly comprehensive in compiling data on cases and deaths in prisons and jails, population reductions, legal filings, immigration cases, and even grassroots efforts aimed at supporting incarcerated populations. It’s a great resource for any local reporter writing about COVID-19 in the carceral system in their community. <a href="https://uclacovidbehindbars.org/">The Project’s website</a> (new as of mid-December) hosts a wealth of analysis and visualizations of its data.<a href="https://beta.healthdata.gov/National/COVID-19-Community-Profile-Report/gqxm-d9w9" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID-19 Community Profile Reports</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, demographic details (for context, not COVID-19 stats), hospital utilization (for states), various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. regions, states, counties, and CBSAs (core-based statistical areas, basically metropolitan and micropolitan areas)
''Where the data come from:'' Reports are compiled by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup under the White House COVID-19 Task Force; they use data reported by state public health agencies, the HHS, the CDC, and other national agencies. (Full details in the Excel downloads.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily (usually before 12 PM EST)
''Time series:'' Back to December 17, 2020.
''Downloads:'' See the Excel download links under “Attachments,” at the bottom of the page.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Standardized state-, county-, and CBSA-level data; calculated metrics; demographic values. Use as daily and weekly snapshots, as a time series is not (yet) available.
''Notes:'' The White House COVID-19 Task Force has compiled these Community Profile Reports since the spring, but only started releasing them publicly in mid-December (<a href="https://coviddatadispatch.com/2020/12/20/hhs-releases-long-awaited-national-profile-reports/">see CDD post on the subject</a>). Still, the reports are a key source because they present a ton of standardized state- and county-level data, as well as data for CBSAs—a geographic level which was previously unavailable. A hallmark of the reports is their wealth of calculated metrics: you can see not only raw case numbers for the past week, but also population-adjusted cases, the percent change from the previous week, and more. If you’re a reporter who’d like to pull a quick statistic about your community, the reports make this very easy. Demographic values are also available for context. These reports are most useful for daily and weekly snapshots, rather than a time series, as they present data for only one week at a time.<a href="https://beta.healthdata.gov/National/COVID-19-Community-Profile-Report/gqxm-d9w9" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID-19 Community Profile Reports</a>
''Available metrics:'' Cases (all), deaths (all), PCR tests, demographic details (for context, not COVID-19 stats), hospital utilization (for states), various calculated metrics
''Available geographies:'' U.S. regions, states, counties, and CBSAs (core-based statistical areas, basically metropolitan and micropolitan areas)
''Where the data come from:'' Reports are compiled by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup under the White House COVID-19 Task Force; they use data reported by state public health agencies, the HHS, the CDC, and other national agencies. (Full details in the Excel downloads.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily (usually before 12 PM EST)
''Time series:'' Back to December 17, 2020.
''Downloads:'' See the Excel download links under “Attachments,” at the bottom of the page.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Standardized state-, county-, and CBSA-level data; calculated metrics; demographic values. Use as daily and weekly snapshots, as a time series is not (yet) available.
''Notes:'' The White House COVID-19 Task Force has compiled these Community Profile Reports since the spring, but only started releasing them publicly in mid-December (<a href="https://coviddatadispatch.com/2020/12/20/hhs-releases-long-awaited-national-profile-reports/">see CDD post on the subject</a>). Still, the reports are a key source because they present a ton of standardized state- and county-level data, as well as data for CBSAs—a geographic level which was previously unavailable. A hallmark of the reports is their wealth of calculated metrics: you can see not only raw case numbers for the past week, but also population-adjusted cases, the percent change from the previous week, and more. If you’re a reporter who’d like to pull a quick statistic about your community, the reports make this very easy. Demographic values are also available for context. These reports are most useful for daily and weekly snapshots, rather than a time series, as they present data for only one week at a time.<a href="https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/covid19-module" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">HHS Protect: Hospitalization data</a>
''Available metrics:'' Hospital capacity and utilization data, including bed counts (inpatient and ICU), COVID-19 patient counts (confirmed and suspected cases), new COVID-19 admissions, emergency department visits, hospital shortages (state level), and more.
''Available geographies:'' U.S. states and individual facilities (facilities may be matched up to counties, CBSAs, healthcare jurisdictions, etc.)
''Where the data come from:'' Hospitals report a number of metrics daily; data are sent to the HHS either by hospitals themselves or by state public health departments and hospital associations which aggregate the data on the hospitals’ behalf.
''Update schedule:'' State dataset is updated daily; facility dataset is updated weekly on Mondays (including data from the preceding Friday through Thursday).
''Time series:'' Back to mid-July 2020; data become more complete and reliable towards the end of August.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-state">State dataset (previous day only)</a>; <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-state-timeseries">state dataset (time series)</a>; <a href="https://healthdata.gov/dataset/covid-19-reported-patient-impact-and-hospital-capacity-facility">facility dataset</a>.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/index.html">HHS newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Tracking how COVID-19 is impacting hospitals in the U.S., at any geographic level.
''Notes:'' The facility dataset in particular offers an intense level of granularity: data are included for over 4,000 individual hospitals, which may be matched up to states, counties, ZIP codes, and other geographic regions. Both the state- and facility-level datasets go back to July, when the HHS took over hospital data collection from the CDC. See the CDD post on the facility-level dataset’s release for more info.Double-click this passage to edit it.[[Nursing Homes->City Nursing Homes]]
[[Assisted Living Facilities->City Assisted Living Facilities]]
[[Prisons->City Prisons]]Double-click this passage to edit it.Double-click this passage to edit it.Double-click this passage to edit it.<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center</a>
''Available metrics:'' Confirmed cases, deaths, tests, vaccinations
''Available geographies:'' Global (by country); U.S. (by state, by county)
''Where the data come from:'' Johns Hopkins University compilations of data from public health websites (automated); Census; American Community Survey; testing data from the COVID Tracking Project; etc. (Full list of sources is available on Github.)
''Update schedule:'' Daily, usually in the evening EST.
''Time series:'' Back to January 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19">Daily reports available on Github.</a>
''Publicity:'' <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/news">Occasional mentions on JHU Coronavirus News page.</a>
''Use this for:'' Quickly comparing case or death counts in different countries; global time series.
''Notes:'' The JHU tracker was one of the first COVID-19 trackers to start in the U.S. It’s unique in offering both global data and local data for cases, going to the county level.
<a href="https://covid19.who.int/" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">World Health Organization</a>
''Available metrics:'' Confirmed cases, confirmed deaths, transmission classifications
''Available geographies:'' Global (by country, by WHO region)
''Where the data come from:'' Monitoring official ministries of national health websites and social media accounts.
''Update schedule:'' Daily new case and deaths counts are complete by 23:59 CET/CEST each day.
''Time series:'' Back to January 2020.
''Downloads:'' CSV available; includes time series for all countries.
''Publicity:'' Occasional press releases in the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room">WHO newsroom</a>.
''Use this for:'' Global time series; time series for individual countries; national and regional comparisons; transmission information.
''Notes:'' If you want official COVID-19 data from any country, this is the place to go. The WHO provides time series of individual countries, including both new and total cases for every day going back to January. It’s easy to compare regions using the charts on the site’s Overview page. The WHO is also unique in offering transmission classifications, such as “clusters of cases” or “community transmission,” based on weekly WHO review of new cases in each country.
<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Our World in Data's Coronavirus Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Confirmed cases, confirmed deaths, tests, hospitalizations, vaccinations, excess mortality, various calculated values from these
''Available geographies:'' Global (by selected countries and regions, based on data availability)
''Where the data come from:'' Johns Hopkins Tracker for cases and deaths; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, COVID Tracking Project, and Canada’s COVID-19 Tracker for hospitalizations; various national sources (and the COVID Tracking Project) for tests; various official reports for vaccinations. Details and links on Github.
''Update schedule:'' Daily.
''Time series:'' Back to March 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data/tree/master/public/data">CSV, XLSX, and JSON downloads available on Github.</a>
''Publicity:'' Occasional updates on <a href="https://twitter.com/OurWorldInData">Our World in Data’s Twitter account</a>.
''Use this for:'' Our World in Data’s tracker is useful if you’d like to compare countries, particularly when using calculated values such as cases per 100,000 population, test positivity, and case fatality rate, which are not included on other dashboards. It’s also the only source tracking testing and vaccinations on an international level, though numbers are only available for a limited number of countries.
''Notes:'' Calculated value comparisons from this source should be used with caution, however, as different nations track cases, deaths, tests, etc. in different ways—test positivity rates, in particular, may not be directly comparable.<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Our World in Data's Coronavirus Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Confirmed cases, confirmed deaths, tests, hospitalizations, vaccinations, excess mortality, various calculated values from these
''Available geographies:'' Global (by selected countries and regions, based on data availability)
''Where the data come from:'' Johns Hopkins Tracker for cases and deaths; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, COVID Tracking Project, and Canada’s COVID-19 Tracker for hospitalizations; various national sources (and the COVID Tracking Project) for tests; various official reports for vaccinations. Details and links on Github.
''Update schedule:'' Daily.
''Time series:'' Back to March 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data/tree/master/public/data">CSV, XLSX, and JSON downloads available on Github.</a>
''Publicity:'' Occasional updates on <a href="https://twitter.com/OurWorldInData">Our World in Data’s Twitter account</a>.
''Use this for:'' Our World in Data’s tracker is useful if you’d like to compare countries, particularly when using calculated values such as cases per 100,000 population, test positivity, and case fatality rate, which are not included on other dashboards. It’s also the only source tracking testing and vaccinations on an international level, though numbers are only available for a limited number of countries.
''Notes:'' Calculated value comparisons from this source should be used with caution, however, as different nations track cases, deaths, tests, etc. in different ways—test positivity rates, in particular, may not be directly comparable.<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus" style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 25px; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold">Our World in Data's Coronavirus Tracker</a>
''Available metrics:'' Confirmed cases, confirmed deaths, tests, hospitalizations, vaccinations, excess mortality, various calculated values from these
''Available geographies:'' Global (by selected countries and regions, based on data availability)
''Where the data come from:'' Johns Hopkins Tracker for cases and deaths; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, COVID Tracking Project, and Canada’s COVID-19 Tracker for hospitalizations; various national sources (and the COVID Tracking Project) for tests; various official reports for vaccinations. Details and links on Github.
''Update schedule:'' Daily.
''Time series:'' Back to March 2020.
''Downloads:'' <a href="https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data/tree/master/public/data">CSV, XLSX, and JSON downloads available on Github.</a>
''Publicity:'' Occasional updates on <a href="https://twitter.com/OurWorldInData">Our World in Data’s Twitter account</a>.
''Use this for:'' Our World in Data’s tracker is useful if you’d like to compare countries, particularly when using calculated values such as cases per 100,000 population, test positivity, and case fatality rate, which are not included on other dashboards. It’s also the only source tracking testing and vaccinations on an international level, though numbers are only available for a limited number of countries.
''Notes:'' Calculated value comparisons from this source should be used with caution, however, as different nations track cases, deaths, tests, etc. in different ways—test positivity rates, in particular, may not be directly comparable.
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