CDC will move from daily to weekly COVID data updates

October 8, 2022 – The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces that it will begin updating the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths on a weekly basis instead of a daily basis starting on the 20th october.
“To allow for additional reporting flexibility, reduce the reporting burden on states and jurisdictions, and maximize surveillance resources, the CDC is moving to a weekly reporting cadence for row-level data and aggregate case data. and deaths, the CDC said Thursday.
The CDC is still providing daily data on COVID hospitalizations, using information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It’s unclear if that will change when the National Healthcare Safety Network takes over responsibility for collecting COVID hospital data in mid-December. CDC said.
The CDC has been publishing daily COVID data for more than two years. The CDC’s COVID community-level assessments are already updated once a week, on Thursdays. State and local governments are using community-level assessments to decide when and where citizens should be asked to wear masks.
The shift is another sign of a de-escalation in the COVID response as key pandemic statistics plummet. The New York Times reported that on October 7, the United States had an average of 40,186 new COVID cases per day (a two-week drop of 26%), 26,994 COVID-related hospitalizations (a drop of 11%) and 380 COVID-related deaths (a decrease of 11%). Health experts say the number of cases is actually higher because many home test results are not being reported to health agencies.
Earlier this week, the CDC announced that it would no longer maintain travel advisory lists for foreign countries because “fewer countries are testing or reporting cases of COVID-19.” The New York Times reported. Instead, the CDC will issue health advisories only for “a concerning variant of Covid-19” in a particular country.
Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, said Tuesday that COVID cases could increase this winter, especially if a new variant of COVID emerges.
“While we can feel good that we are moving in the right direction, we cannot let our guard down,” Fauci said in a discussion hosted by the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. “We are entering the winter months, where whatever the respiratory disease, there is always a risk of an increase.