COVID-19 Case Surveillance Public Use Data with Geography

data.cdc.gov | Last Updated 4 May 2024

<b>Note:</b> Authorizations to collect certain public health data expired at the end of the U.S. public health emergency declaration on May 11, 2023. The following jurisdictions discontinued COVID-19 case notifications to CDC: Iowa (11/8/21), Kansas (5/12/23), Kentucky (1/1/24), Louisiana (10/31/23), New Hampshire (5/23/23), and Oklahoma (5/2/23). Please note that these jurisdictions will not routinely send new case data after the dates indicated. As of 7/13/23, case notifications from Oregon will only include pediatric cases resulting in death. This case surveillance public use dataset has 19 elements for all COVID-19 cases shared with CDC and includes demographics, geography (county and state of residence), any exposure history, disease severity indicators and outcomes, and presence of any underlying medical conditions and risk behaviors. Currently, CDC provides the public with three versions of COVID-19 case surveillance line-listed data: this <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/Case-Surveillance/COVID-19-Case-Surveillance-Public-Use-Data-with-Ge/n8mc-b4w4">19 data element dataset with geography</a>, a <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/Case-Surveillance/COVID-19-Case-Surveillance-Public-Use-Data/vbim-akqf">12 data element public use dataset</a>, and a <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/Case-Surveillance/COVID-19-Case-Surveillance-Restricted-Access-Detai/mbd7-r32t">33 data element restricted access dataset</a>. The following apply to the public use datasets and the restricted access dataset: <ul><li>Data elements can be found on the COVID-19 case report form located at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/pui-form.pdf.</li><li>Data are considered provisional by CDC and are subject to change until the data are reconciled and verified with the state and territorial data providers.</li><li>Some data are suppressed to protect individual privacy.</li><li>Datasets will include all cases with the earliest date available in each record (date received by CDC or date related to illness/specimen collection) at least 14 days prior to the creation of the current datasets. This 14-day lag allows case reporting to be stabilized and ensure that time-dependent outcome data are accurately captured.</li><li>Datasets are updated monthly.</li><li>Datasets are created using CDC’s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/grants/additional-requirements/ar-25.html">Policy on Public Health Research and Nonresearch Data Management and Access</a> and include protections designed to protect individual privacy.</li><li>For more information about data collection and reporting, please see <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/about-us-cases-deaths.html">https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/about-us-cases-deaths.html.</a></li><li>For more information about the COVID-19 case surveillance data, please see <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/faq-surveillance.html"> https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/faq-surveillance.html</a><br></li></ul> <b>Overview</b> The COVID-19 case surveillance database includes individual-level data reported to U.S. states and autonomous reporting entities, including New York City and the District of Columbia (D.C.), as well as U.S. territories and affiliates. On April 5, 2020, COVID-19 was added to the <a href="https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/search-results-year/">Nationally Notifiable Condition List</a> and classified as “immediately notifiable, urgent (within 24 hours)” by a Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Interim Position Statement (<a href="https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.cste.org/resource/resmgr/ps/positionstatement2020/Interim-20-ID-01_COVID-19_NO.pdf">Interim-20-ID-01</a>). CSTE updated the position statement on August 5, 2020, to clarify the interpretation of antigen detection tests and serologic test results within the case classification (<a href="https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.cste.org/resource/resmgr/ps/positionstatement2020/Interim-20-ID-02_COVID-19.pdf">Interim-20-ID-02</a>). The statement also recommended that all states and territories enact laws to make COVID-19 reportable in their jurisdiction, and that jurisdictions conducting surveillance should submit case notifications to CDC. COVID-19 case surveillance data are collected by jurisdictions and reported voluntarily to CDC. For more information: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nndss/action/stories/covid-19-response.html">NNDSS Supports the COVID-19 Response | CDC</a>.<br> <b>COVID-19 Case Reports</b> COVID-19 case reports are routinely submitted to CDC by public health jurisdictions using nationally standardized case reporting forms. On April 5, 2020, CSTE released an Interim Position Statement with national surveillance case definitions for COVID-19. Current versions of these case definitions are available at: https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/case-definitions/coronavirus-disease-2019-2021/. All cases reported on or after were requested to be shared by public health departments to CDC using the standardized case definitions for lab-confirmed or probable cases. On May 5, 2020, the standardized case reporting form was revised. States and territories continue to use this form. <h4><b>Data are Considered Provisional</b></h4> <ul><li>The COVID-19 case surveillance data are dynamic; case reports can be modified at any time by the jurisdictions sharing COVID-19 data with CDC. CDC may update prior cases shared with CDC based on any updated information from jurisdictions. For instance, as new information is gathered about previously reported cases, health departments provide updated data to CDC. As more information and data become available, analyses might find changes in surveillance data and trends during a previously reported time window. Data may also be shared late with CDC due to the volume of COVID-19 cases.</li><li>Annual finalized data: To create the final NNDSS data used in the annual tables, CDC works carefully with the reporting jurisdictions to reconcile the data received during the year until each state or territorial epidemiologist confirms that the data from their area are correct.</li></ul> Access <a href="https://preparedness.cste.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/RaceEthnicityData_FINAL.pdf">Addressing Gaps in Public Health Reporting of Race and Ethnicity for COVID-19</a>, a report from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, to better understand the challenges in completing race and ethnicity data for COVID-19 and recommendations for improvement. <h3><b>Data Limitations</b></h3> To learn more about the limitations in using case surveillance data, visit <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/faq-surveillance.html">FAQ: COVID-19 Data and Surveillance</a>. <h4><b>Data Quality Assurance Procedures</b></h4> CDC’s Case Surveillance Section routinely performs data quality assurance procedures (i.e., ongoing corrections and logic checks to address data errors). To date, the following data cleaning steps have been implemented: <ul><li>Questions that have been left unanswered (blank) on the case report form are reclassified to a Missing value, if applicable to the question. For example, in the question "Was the individual hospitalized?" where the possible answer choices include "Yes," "No," or "Unknown," the blank value is recoded to "Missing" because the case report form did not include a response to the question.</li><li>Logic checks are performed for date data. If an illogical date has been provided, CDC reviews the data with the reporting jurisdiction. For example, if a symptom onset date in the future is reported to CDC, this value is set to null until the reporting jurisdiction updates the date appropriately.</li><li>Additional data quality processing to recode free text data is ongoing. Data on symptoms, race, ethnicity, and healthcare worker status have been prioritized.</li></ul> <h4><b>Data Suppression</b></h4> To prevent release of data that could be used to identify people, data cells are suppressed for low frequency (<11 COVID-19 case records with a given values). Suppression includes low frequency combinations of case month, geographic characteristics (county and state of residence), and demographic characteristics (sex, age group, race, and ethnicity). Suppressed values are re-coded to the NA answer option; records with data suppression are never removed. <h4><b>Additional COVID-19 Data</b></h4> COVID-19 data are available to the public as summary or aggregate count files, including total counts of cases and deaths by state and by county. These and other COVID-19 data are available from multiple public locations: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/">COVID Data Tracker</a>; <a href="https://data.cdc.gov/Case-Surveillance/Weekly-United-States-COVID-19-Cases-and-Deaths-by-/pwn4-m3yp">United States COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by State</a>; <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/reporting/index.html">COVID-19 Vaccination Reporting Data Systems</a>; and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm">COVID-19 Death Data and Resources</a>. <b>Notes:</b> <b>March 1, 2022:</b> The "COVID-19 Case Surveillance Public Use Data with Geography" will be updated on a monthly basis. <b>April 7, 2022:</b> An adjustment was made to CDC’s cleaning algorithm for COVID-19 line level case notification data. An assumption in CDC's algorithm led to misclassifying deaths that were not COVID-19 related. The algorithm has since been revised, and this dataset update reflects corrected individual level information about death status for all cases collected to date.

Tags: covid-19, covid19, coronavirus, cases, surveillance, county, state, microdata

This dataset has the following 19 columns:

Column NameAPI Column NameData TypeDescriptionSample Values
case_monthcase_monthtextThe earlier of month the Clinical Date (date related to the illness or specimen collection) or the Date Received by CDC
res_stateres_statetextState of residence
state_fips_codestate_fips_codetextState FIPS code
res_countyres_countytextCounty of residence
county_fips_codecounty_fips_codetextCounty FIPS code
age_groupage_grouptextAge group [0 - 17 years; 18 - 49 years; 50 - 64 years; 65 + years; Unknown; Missing; NA, if value suppressed for privacy protection.]
sexsextextSex [Female; Male; Other; Unknown; Missing; NA, if value suppressed for privacy protection.]
raceracetextRace [American Indian/Alaska Native; Asian; Black; Multiple/Other; Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander; White; Unknown; Missing; NA, if value suppressed for privacy protection.]
ethnicityethnicitytextEthnicity [Hispanic; Non-Hispanic; Unknown; Missing; NA, if value suppressed for privacy protection.]
case_positive_specimen_intervalcase_positive_specimennumberWeeks between earliest date and date of first positive specimen collection
case_onset_intervalcase_onset_intervalnumberWeeks between earliest date and date of symptom onset.
processprocesstextUnder what process was the case first identified? [Clinical evaluation; Routine surveillance; Contact tracing of case patient; Multiple; Other; Unknown; Missing]
exposure_ynexposure_yntextIn the 14 days prior to illness onset, did the patient have any of the following known exposures: domestic travel, international travel, cruise ship or vessel travel as a passenger or crew member, workplace, airport/airplane, adult congregate living facility (nursing, assisted living, or long-term care facility), school/university/childcare center, correctional facility, community event/mass gathering, animal with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, other exposure, contact with a known COVID-19 case? [Yes, Unknown, Missing]
current_statuscurrent_statustextWhat is the current status of this person? [Laboratory-confirmed case, Probable case]
symptom_statussymptom_statustextWhat is the symptom status of this person? [Asymptomatic, Symptomatic, Unknown, Missing]
hosp_ynhosp_yntextWas the patient hospitalized? [Yes, No, Unknown, Missing]
icu_ynicu_yntextWas the patient admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU)? [Yes, No, Unknown, Missing]
death_yndeath_yntextDid the patient die as a result of this illness? [Yes; No; Unknown; Missing; NA, if value suppressed for privacy protection.]
underlying_conditions_ynunderlying_conditions_yntextDid the patient have one or more of the underlying medical conditions and risk behaviors: diabetes mellitus, hypertension, severe obesity (BMI>40), cardiovascular disease, chronic renal disease, chronic liver disease, chronic lung disease, other chronic diseases, immunosuppressive condition, autoimmune condition, current smoker, former smoker, substance abuse or misuse, disability, psychological/psychiatric, pregnancy, other. [Yes, No, blank]