Discussion: Is anybody in charge of tabulating coronavirus cases in the US?

[Laidback Al]

[This topic is now closed, for more information about the number of US cases see this thread]


The CDC is not providing detailed information about the number of confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases in each state or the locations of those cases. This information vacuum reflects very poorly on the CDC and the US government as a whole.

Everyone in the US, including the national media, must derive that information elsewhere, either through hand compilation or reliance on third party data sets. One of the earliest websites to aggregate case counts around the world is the JHUCSSE page put together by a team from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). This page is the source that is often cited for coronavirus statistics, including by the Center Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Today, ABC News, citing JHUCSSE home page states:

“The number of Americans diagnosed with novel coronavirus is now at least 401, according to a case count by Johns Hopkins. At least 19 people have died in the U.S. in Washington state, California and Florida.”

However, the count of US cases (401) on the JHU home page does match up with the actual tally of cases posted for the US by the JHU’s team in their data table. Such an obvious discrepancy is disappointing. Below is the actual tabulation of US cases from their data table. According to this data as of yesterday there were only 278 cases in the US. [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0, width: 598"]
[TR]
[TD]King County, WA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T23:13:07[/TD]
[TD]58[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Unassigned Location (From Diamond Princess)[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-02T19:53:03[/TD]
[TD]45[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Santa Clara, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T22:53:03[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Snohomish County, WA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T23:13:07[/TD]
[TD]19[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Westchester County, NY[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T15:43:03[/TD]
[TD]19[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]New York County, NY[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T19:13:40[/TD]
[TD]16[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Los Angeles, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T23:13:07[/TD]
[TD]13[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cook County, IL[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T18:33:03[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Placer County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T23:13:07[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Unassigned Location, WA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T00:33:03[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Contra Costa County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T19:43:02[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Harris County, TX[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T15:43:02[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Montgomery County, MD[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T04:03:17[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Orange County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-04T02:13:11[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]San Diego County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T20:33:03[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Suffolk County, MA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T18:33:03[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Norfolk County, MA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T18:33:03[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bergen County, NJ[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T21:03:12[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Denver County, CO[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T23:33:02[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Fulton County, GA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-03T03:33:02[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Grafton County, NH[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-03T23:33:03[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Hillsborough, FL[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-03T18:33:02[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Maricopa County, AZ[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T18:33:03[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Providence, RI[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-02T03:43:02[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sacramento County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-02-27T20:33:02[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]San Benito, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-02-03T03:53:02[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]San Francisco County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T20:33:03[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]San Mateo, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-03T00:43:02[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Summit County, CO[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T01:29:39[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Washington County, OR[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-03T03:03:02[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Berkeley, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-03T23:53:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Chatham County, NC[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T16:13:15[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Clark County, NV[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T20:53:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Delaware County, PA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T15:33:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Douglas County, NE[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T23:33:02[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Fayette County, KY[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T23:23:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Floyd County, GA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T17:53:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Fort Bend County, TX[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T01:16:59[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Grant County, WA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T20:23:07[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Humboldt County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-02-21T05:13:09[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Madison, WI[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-03T15:53:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Marion County, IN[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T17:13:12[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Middlesex County, MA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T01:29:39[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nassau County, NY[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T14:43:15[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Norwell County, MA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T02:33:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ramsey County, MN[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T23:23:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]San Antonio, TX[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-02-13T18:53:02[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Santa Rosa County, FL[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T20:03:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sarasota, FL[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-02T03:23:06[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sonoma County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-02T20:53:02[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tempe, AZ[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-02-25T21:23:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Umatilla, OR[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-02T20:23:16[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wake County, NC[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-03T20:53:02[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Washoe County, NV[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T19:43:02[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wayne County, PA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T16:13:15[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Williamson County, TN[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-05T23:33:03[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Yolo County, CA[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-03-06T20:13:14[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Lackland, TX (From Diamond Princess)[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-02-24T23:33:02[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Omaha, NE (From Diamond Princess)[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-02-24T23:33:02[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Travis, CA (From Diamond Princess)[/TD]
[TD]US[/TD]
[TD]2020-02-24T23:33:02[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
New case counts from the US are accumulating among local public health agencies by the hour but there appears to be no central government agency collecting and publicizing this data. Although the CDC web page notes it was updated on March 7, 2020, the total number of confirmed and presumptive cases in the US reported by the CDC on that page is only 164, not counting 51 infected US citizens repatriated to the US.

There are some discrepancies with the case numbers provided by counties from the JHU’S team. For example, at a press conference in New York yesterday, Governor Cuomo confirmed 44 cases in the state of New York, 34 in Westchester County, 4 in New York County, 4 in Nassau County, and 2 in Rockland County. The data table from JHUCSSE records 19 cases in Westchester, 16 in New York, 1 in Nassau and none in Rockland. Given the lack of any central US government agency providing data, such discrepancies are to be expected.

This is not to disparage the efforts of the team at JHU. They, like all of us, are struggling to understand and enumerate this outbreak. It is the CDC that should be providing accurate and real time updates of the number of and location of cases around the country. It is unfortunate that the CDC is not fulfilling its public mission and that private entities have to step up.

 

[gsgs]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...ring&sle=true#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_outbreak_in_the_United_States

 

[Missouriwatcher]

Wikipedia can't add deaths: CA (1); FL (2) + WA (17) = 19 ??

 

[sharon sanders]

We have this which I just made a sticky:


CDC case counts US - 400+ cases, 20 fatalities as of March 7, 2020


We can make our own list if someone wants to volunteer. I think we are going to have an explosion of cases as the test kits begin to be used locally and we might start by saying we are going to be rounding to the nearest 10 or 100.

 

[sharon sanders]

I also want to say that it is inappropriate to bring politics onto FT. We are not a political site. I am well aware that coronavirus has become a political football.

It is completely unproductive to criticize the current admin, CDC, HHS, etc. etc, on FluTrackers. We are the only objective media. We can not let this site devolve into the vicious climate that we see on other medias.

We need to stick to the matter at hand -

How do we help the most people?

The way we help them is to stay non-political and keep providing the best information about what is going on in the world and by providing the best scientific data.


Thanks everyone!