Deaths counts for influenza, pneumonia, and COVID-19 reported to NCHS by week ending date, by state and HHS region, and age group.

This file contains the provisional percent of total deaths by week for COVID-19, Influenza, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus for deaths occurring among residents in the United States. Provisional data are based on non-final counts of deaths based on the flow of mortality data in National Vital Statistics System.

Effective September 27, 2023, this dataset will no longer be updated. Similar data are accessible from wonder.cdc.gov.

Deaths involving COVID-19, pneumonia, and influenza reported to NCHS by sex, age group, and jurisdiction of occurrence.

Provisional counts of the number of death occurrences in England and Wales due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and influenza and pneumonia, by age, sex and place of death.

Analysis of ‘COVID-19 State Data’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://www.kaggle.com/nightranger77/covid19-state-data on 28 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

This dataset is a per-state amalgamation of demographic, public health and other relevant predictors for COVID-19.

Deaths, Infections and Tests by State

The COVID Tracking Project: https://covidtracking.com/data/api

Used positive, death and totalTestResults from the API for, respectively, Infected, Deaths and Tested in this dataset. Please read the documentation of the API for more context on those columns

Predictor Data and Sources

Population (2020)

Density is people per meter squared https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/

ICU Beds and Age 60+

https://khn.org/news/as-coronavirus-spreads-widely-millions-of-older-americans-live-in-counties-with-no-icu-beds/

GDP

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/gdp-by-state/

Income per capita (2018)

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/per-capita-income-by-state/

Gini

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_Gini_coefficient

Unemployment (2020)

Rates from Feb 2020 and are percentage of labor force
https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

Sex (2017)

Ratio is Male / Female
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribution-by-gender/

Smoking Percentage (2020)

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/smoking-rates-by-state/

Influenza and Pneumonia Death Rate (2018)

Death rate per 100,000 people
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/flu_pneumonia_mortality/flu_pneumonia.htm

Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease Death Rate (2018)

Death rate per 100,000 people
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/lung_disease_mortality/lung_disease.htm

Active Physicians (2019)

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-active-physicians/

Hospitals (2018)

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-hospitals

Health spending per capita

Includes spending for all health care services and products by state of residence. Hospital spending is included and reflects the total net revenue. Costs such as insurance, administration, research, and construction expenses are not included.
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/avg-annual-growth-per-capita/

Pollution (2019)

Pollution: Average exposure of the general public to particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5) measured in micrograms per cubic meter (3-year estimate)
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/air/state/ALL

Medium and Large Airports

For each state, number of medium and large airports https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_the_United_States

Temperature (2019)

Note that FL was incorrect in the table, but is corrected in the Hottest States paragraph
https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/average-temperatures-by-state/
District of Columbia temperature computed as the average of Maryland and Virginia

Urbanization (2010)

Urbanization as a percentage of the population https://www.icip.iastate.edu/tables/population/urban-pct-states

Age Groups (2018)

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribution-by-age/

School Closure Dates

Schools that haven't closed are marked NaN https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/map-coronavirus-and-school-closures.html

Note that some datasets above did not contain data for District of Columbia, this missing data was found via Google searches manually entered.

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

This dataset represents preliminary estimates of cumulative U.S. COVID-19 disease burden for the 2024-2025 period, including illnesses, outpatient visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. The weekly COVID-19-associated burden estimates are preliminary and based on continuously collected surveillance data from patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. The data come from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET), a surveillance platform that captures data from hospitals that serve about 10% of the U.S. population. Each week CDC estimates a range (i.e., lower estimate and an upper estimate) of COVID-19 -associated burden that have occurred since October 1, 2024.

Note: Data are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available. Rates for recent COVID-19-associated hospital admissions are subject to reporting delays; as new data are received each week, previous rates are updated accordingly.

References

1. Reed C, Chaves SS, Daily Kirley P, et al. Estimating influenza disease burden from population-based surveillance data in the United States. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0118369. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118369 
2. Rolfes, MA, Foppa, IM, Garg, S, et al. Annual estimates of the burden of seasonal influenza in the United States: A tool for strengthening influenza surveillance and preparedness. Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2018; 12: 132– 137. https://doi.org/10.1111/irv.12486
3. Tokars JI, Rolfes MA, Foppa IM, Reed C. An evaluation and update of methods for estimating the number of influenza cases averted by vaccination in the United States. Vaccine. 2018;36(48):7331-7337. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.10.026 
4. Collier SA, Deng L, Adam EA, Benedict KM, Beshearse EM, Blackstock AJ, Bruce BB, Derado G, Edens C, Fullerton KE, Gargano JW, Geissler AL, Hall AJ, Havelaar AH, Hill VR, Hoekstra RM, Reddy SC, Scallan E, Stokes EK, Yoder JS, Beach MJ. Estimate of Burden and Direct Healthcare Cost of Infectious Waterborne Disease in the United States. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Jan;27(1):140-149. doi: 10.3201/eid2701.190676. PMID: 33350905; PMCID: PMC7774540.
5. Reed C, Kim IK, Singleton JA,  et al. Estimated influenza illnesses and hospitalizations averted by vaccination–United States, 2013-14 influenza season. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014 Dec 12;63(49):1151-4. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6349a2.htm 
6. Reed C, Angulo FJ, Swerdlow DL, et al. Estimates of the Prevalence of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, United States, April–July 2009. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009;15(12):2004-2007. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1512.091413  
7. Devine O, Pham H, Gunnels B, et al. Extrapolating Sentinel Surveillance Information to Estimate National COVID-19 Hospital Admission Rates: A Bayesian Modeling Approach. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/irv.70026. Volume18, Issue10. October 2024.
8. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/php/covid-net/index.html">COVID-NET | COVID-19 | CDC 
9. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/clinical-care/systematic-review-process.html 
10. https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/1/3/pgac079/6604394?login=false">Excess natural-cause deaths in California by cause and setting: March 2020 through February 2021 | PNAS Nexus | Oxford Academic (oup.com)
11. Kruschke, J. K. 2011. Doing Bayesian data analysis: a tutorial with R and BUGS. Elsevier, Amsterdam, Section 3.3.5.

The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) receives weekly deidentified provisional death certificate data for all deaths that occur in Chicago, which can include both Chicago and non-Chicago residents from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Illinois Vital Records System (IVRS). CDPH scans for keywords to identify deaths with COVID-19, influenza, or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) listed as an immediate cause of death, contributing factor, or other significant condition. The percentage of all reported deaths that are attributed to COVID-19, influenza, or RSV is calculated as the number of deaths for each respective disease divided by the number of deaths from all causes, multiplied by 100.

This dataset reflects death certificates that have been submitted to IVRS at the time of transmission to CDPH each week – data from previous weeks are not updated with any new submissions to IVRS. As such, estimates in this dataset may differ from those reported through other sources. This dataset can be used to understand trends in COVID-19, influenza, and RSV mortality in Chicago but does not reflect official death statistics.

Source: Provisional deaths from the Illinois Department of Public Health Illinois Vital Records System.

This file contains the provisional percent of total deaths by week for COVID-19, Influenza, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus for deaths occurring among residents in the United States. Provisional data are based on non-final counts of deaths based on the flow of mortality data in National Vital Statistics System.

Age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19), non-COVID-19 deaths and all deaths by vaccination status, broken down by age group.

Worries about the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant mothers and their offspring are widespread. Data from New York City in 2020 and Philadelphia in 1918 were used to compare to COVID-19 mortality rates versus Spanish Flu mortality rates by age and gender. The data show that COVID-19 mortality rates have been much higher for individuals over 60 compared to the Spanish Flu, which had much higher mortality rates for people between the ages of 20-40. Data on COVID-19 death counts for New York City from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020) combined with population estimates for 2017 from New York State Department of Health (2017). Data on Spanish Influenza from Rogers (1920). Data is accessible to people who have an OPEN ICPSR account.

This dataset represents preliminary estimates of cumulative U.S. RSV –associated disease burden estimates for the 2024-2025 season, including outpatient visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Real-time estimates are preliminary and based on continuously collected surveillance data from patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections. The data come from the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RSV-NET), a surveillance platform that captures data from hospitals that serve about 8% of the U.S. population. Each week CDC estimates a range (i.e., lower estimate and an upper estimate) of RSV-associated disease burden estimates that have occurred since October 1, 2024.

Note: Data are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available. Rates for recent RSV-associated hospital admissions are subject to reporting delays; as new data are received each week, previous rates are updated accordingly.

Note: Preliminary burden estimates are not inclusive of data from all RSV-NET sites. Due to model limitations, sites with small sample sizes can impact estimates in unpredictable ways and are excluded for the benefit of model stability. CDC is working to address model limitations and include data from all sites in final burden estimates.

References

1. Reed C, Chaves SS, Daily Kirley P, et al. Estimating influenza disease burden from population-based surveillance data in the United States. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0118369. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118369 
2. Rolfes, MA, Foppa, IM, Garg, S, et al. Annual estimates of the burden of seasonal influenza in the United States: A tool for strengthening influenza surveillance and preparedness. Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2018; 12: 132– 137. https://doi.org/10.1111/irv.12486
3. Tokars JI, Rolfes MA, Foppa IM, Reed C. An evaluation and update of methods for estimating the number of influenza cases averted by vaccination in the United States. Vaccine. 2018;36(48):7331-7337. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.10.026 
4. Collier SA, Deng L, Adam EA, Benedict KM, Beshearse EM, Blackstock AJ, Bruce BB, Derado G, Edens C, Fullerton KE, Gargano JW, Geissler AL, Hall AJ, Havelaar AH, Hill VR, Hoekstra RM, Reddy SC, Scallan E, Stokes EK, Yoder JS, Beach MJ. Estimate of Burden and Direct Healthcare Cost of Infectious Waterborne Disease in the United States. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Jan;27(1):140-149. doi: 10.3201/eid2701.190676. PMID: 33350905; PMCID: PMC7774540.
5. Reed C, Kim IK, Singleton JA,  et al. Estimated influenza illnesses and hospitalizations averted by vaccination–United States, 2013-14 influenza season. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014 Dec 12;63(49):1151-4. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6349a2.htm 
6. Reed C, Angulo FJ, Swerdlow DL, et al. Estimates of the Prevalence of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, United States, April–July 2009. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009;15(12):2004-2007. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1512.091413  
7. Devine O, Pham H, Gunnels B, et al. Extrapolating Sentinel Surveillance Information to Estimate National COVID-19 Hospital Admission Rates: A Bayesian Modeling Approach. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/irv.70026. Volume18, Issue10. October 2024.
8. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/php/covid-net/index.html">COVID-NET | COVID-19 | CDC 
9. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/clinical-care/systematic-review-process.html 
10. https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/1/3/pgac079/6604394?login=false">Excess natural-cause deaths in California by cause and setting: March 2020 through February 2021 | PNAS Nexus | Oxford Academic (oup.com)
11. Kruschke, J. K. 2011. Doing Bayesian data analysis: a tutorial with R and BUGS. Elsevier, Amsterdam, Section 3.3.5.

Data is from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Respiratory Virus Weekly Report.

The report is updated each Friday.

Laboratory surveillance data: California laboratories report SARS-CoV-2 test results to CDPH through electronic laboratory reporting. Los Angeles County SARS-CoV-2 lab data has a 7-day reporting lag. Test positivity is calculated using SARS-CoV-2 lab tests that has a specimen collection date reported during a given week.

Laboratory surveillance for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other respiratory viruses (parainfluenza types 1-4, human metapneumovirus, non-SARS-CoV-2 coronaviruses, adenovirus, enterovirus/rhinovirus) involves the use of data from clinical sentinel laboratories (hospital, academic or private) located throughout California. Specimens for testing are collected from patients in healthcare settings and do not reflect all testing for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and other respiratory viruses in California. These laboratories report the number of laboratory-confirmed influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and other respiratory virus detections and isolations, and the total number of specimens tested by virus type on a weekly basis.

Test positivity for a given week is calculated by dividing the number of positive COVID-19, influenza, RSV, or other respiratory virus results by the total number of specimens tested for that virus. Weekly laboratory surveillance data are defined as Sunday through Saturday.

Hospitalization data: Data on COVID-19 and influenza hospital admissions are from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Hospitalization dataset. The requirement to report COVID-19 and influenza-associated hospitalizations was effective November 1, 2024. CDPH pulls NHSN data from the CDC on the Wednesday prior to the publication of the report. Results may differ depending on which day data are pulled. Admission rates are calculated using population estimates from the P-3: Complete State and County Projections Dataset provided by the State of California Department of Finance (https://dof.ca.gov/forecasting/demographics/projections/). Reported weekly admission rates for the entire season use the population estimates for the year the season started. For more information on NHSN data including the protocol and data collection information, see the CDC NHSN webpage (https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/index.html).

CDPH collaborates with Northern California Kaiser Permanente (NCKP) to monitor trends in RSV admissions. The percentage of RSV admissions is calculated by dividing the number of RSV-related admissions by the total number of admissions during the same period. Admissions for pregnancy, labor and delivery, birth, and outpatient procedures are not included in total number of admissions. These admissions serve as a proxy for RSV activity and do not necessarily represent laboratory confirmed hospitalizations for RSV infections; NCKP members are not representative of all Californians.

Weekly hospitalization data are defined as Sunday through Saturday.

Death certificate data: CDPH receives weekly year-to-date dynamic data on deaths occurring in California from the CDPH Center for Health Statistics and Informatics. These data are limited to deaths occurring among California residents and are analyzed to identify influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and COVID-19-coded deaths. These deaths are not necessarily laboratory-confirmed and are an underestimate of all influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and COVID-19-associated deaths in California. Weekly death data are defined as Sunday through Saturday.

Wastewater data: This dataset represents statewide weekly SARS-CoV-2 wastewater summary values. SARS-CoV-2 wastewater concentrations from all sites in California are combined into a single, statewide, unit-less summary value for each week, using a method for data transformation and aggregation developed by the CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS). Please see the CDC NWSS data methods page for a description of how these summary values are calculated. Weekly wastewater data are defined as Sunday through Saturday.

Method

The dataset contains several confirmed COVID-19 cases, number of deaths, and death rate in six regions. The objective of the study is to compare the number of confirmed cases in Africa to other regions.

Death rate = Total number of deaths from COVID-19 divided by the Total Number of infected patients.

The study provides evidence for the country-level in six regions by the World Health Organisation's classification.

Findings

Based on the descriptive data provided above, we conclude that the lack of tourism is one of the key reasons why COVID-19 reported cases are low in Africa compared to other regions. We also justified this claim by providing evidence from the economic freedom index, which indicates that the vast majority of African countries recorded a low index for a business environment. On the other hand, we conclude that the death rate is higher in the African region compared to other regions. This points to issues concerning health-care expenditure, low capacity for testing for COVID-19, and poor infrastructure in the region.

Apart from COVID-19, there are significant pre-existing diseases, namely; Malaria, Flu, HIV/AIDS, and Ebola in the continent. This study, therefore, invites the leaders to invest massively in the health-care system, infrastructure, and human capital in order to provide a sustainable environment for today and future generations. Lastly, policy uncertainty has been a major issue in determining a sustainable development goal on the continent. This uncertainty has differentiated Africa to other regions in terms of stepping up in the time of global crisis.

All-cause, COVID-19, and non-COVID-19 ASDR for ages 25+ by state and time period.

Prayer, Politics, and Policy Related to Age-Adjusted Cancer, Heart Disease, Infant Mortality and COVID-19 Death Rates, U.S. States 2018-2021 Daily Prayer Lipka and Wormald, 2016, Pew Research Center Trump Vote 2016 CNN, 2016 Median family Income/cost of living Moneyrates.com, 2019. Income Inequality (Gini) U.S. Census Bureau, 2019 Physicians Per population National Center for Health Statistics, 2019. Percent Urban U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Unemployment U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016 Public Health Expenditures Per Population National Association of County and City Health Officials, 2019. Age-adjusted Mortality Rates National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, 2018-2021 Infant Mortality Rate National Center for Health Statistics, 2018-2019 Influenza immunizations and fruit consumption Centers for Disease Control Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2024

Context

• The Western African Ebola virus epidemic (2013–2016) was the most widespread outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in history
• Causing major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
• The ** first cases** were recorded in Guinea in December 2013;
• Later, the disease spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, with minor outbreaks occurring elsewhere.
• It caused significant mortality, with the case fatality rate reported which was initially considered, while the rate among hospitalized patients was 57–59%
• The final numbers 28,616 people, including 11,310 deaths, for a case-fatality rate of 40%.

Content

Each row contains a report from each region/location for each day Each column represents the number of cases reported from each country/region

Inspiration

To see how the epidemic spread worldwide in such a short time

Acknowledgements / Data Source

https://www.who.int/csr/don/archive/disease/ebola/en/ https://data.humdata.org/dataset/ebola-cases-2014

Collection methodology

https://github.com/imdevskp/ebola_outbreak_dataset

Cover Photo

Photo from CDC website https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html

Similar Datasets

• COVID-19 - https://www.kaggle.com/imdevskp/corona-virus-report
• MERS - https://www.kaggle.com/imdevskp/mers-outbreak-dataset-20122019
• Ebola Western Africa 2014 Outbreak - https://www.kaggle.com/imdevskp/ebola-outbreak-20142016-complete-dataset
• H1N1 | Swine Flu 2009 Pandemic Dataset - https://www.kaggle.com/imdevskp/h1n1-swine-flu-2009-pandemic-dataset
• SARS 2003 Pandemic - https://www.kaggle.com/imdevskp/sars-outbreak-2003-complete-dataset
• HIV AIDS - https://www.kaggle.com/imdevskp/hiv-aids-dataset

The COVID-19 dashboard includes data on city/town COVID-19 activity, confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, confirmed and probable deaths related to COVID-19, and the demographic characteristics of cases and deaths.

Background: Long-term care facilities had the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths in Canada; thus, it was essential to understand the effectiveness of vaccines and the risk factors for outbreaks in the elderly residents of long-term care and retirement homes. Aims of the CITF-funded study: This study aimed to 1) understand the association between outbreaks and features of long-term care and retirement homes; 2) determine the recurrence rate of outbreaks in homes that have been previously exposed; 3) describe residents’ immune response to infection and vaccination; and 4) estimate vaccine effectiveness in residents. Methods: This cohort study recruited residents from participating long-term care and retirement home across Ontario through invitations from research coordinators. Study visits occurred at participants’ first dose and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and then 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9, and 12 months post- second dose. For those who got a third dose, follow up was done 3 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after their third dose. Staff, essential visitors, and resident participants were followed up every week or per visit for saliva surveillance active COVID infection . A DBS whole blood sample was given at enrolment and at each follow up for serology testing. Contributed dataset contents: The datasets include 1261 participants who completed baseline surveys between January 2021 and July 2023. 90% of participants gave one or more blood samples between April 2021 and April 2023 for analysis. A total of 6078 samples were collected. Variables include data in the following areas of information: demographics (date of birth, sex, race-ethnicity, indigeneity), general health (weight and height, smoking, flu vaccination, chronic conditions), SARS-CoV-2 outcomes (positive test results, hospitalizations), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, and serology (IgA, IgG, and IgM against SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) and spike (S) protein).

Rank, number of deaths, percentage of deaths, and age-specific mortality rates for the leading causes of death, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

This publication was archived on 12 October 2023. Please see the Viral Respiratory Diseases (Including Influenza and COVID-19) in Scotland publication for the latest data. This dataset provides information on number of new daily confirmed cases, negative cases, deaths, testing by NHS Labs (Pillar 1) and UK Government (Pillar 2), new hospital admissions, new ICU admissions, hospital and ICU bed occupancy from novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland, including cumulative totals and population rates at Scotland, NHS Board and Council Area levels (where possible). Seven day positive cases and population rates are also presented by Neighbourhood Area (Intermediate Zone 2011). Information on how PHS publish small are COVID figures is available on the PHS website. Information on demographic characteristics (age, sex, deprivation) of confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, as well as trend data regarding the wider impact of the virus on the healthcare system is provided in this publication. Data includes information on primary care out of hours consultations, respiratory calls made to NHS24, contact with COVID-19 Hubs and Assessment Centres, incidents received by Scottish Ambulance Services (SAS), as well as COVID-19 related hospital admissions and admissions to ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Further data on the wider impact of the COVID-19 response, focusing on hospital admissions, unscheduled care and volume of calls to NHS24, is available on the COVID-19 Wider Impact Dashboard. Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. Clinical presentation may range from mild-to-moderate illness to pneumonia or severe acute respiratory infection. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 12 March 2020. We now have spread of COVID-19 within communities in the UK. Public Health Scotland no longer reports the number of COVID-19 deaths within 28 days of a first positive test from 2nd June 2022. Please refer to NRS death certificate data as the single source for COVID-19 deaths data in Scotland. In the process of updating the hospital admissions reporting to include reinfections, we have had to review existing methodology. In order to provide the best possible linkage of COVID-19 cases to hospital admissions, each admission record is required to have a discharge date, to allow us to better match the most appropriate COVID positive episode details to an admission. This means that in cases where the discharge date is missing (either due to the patient still being treated, delays in discharge information being submitted or data quality issues), it has to be estimated. Estimating a discharge date for historic records means that the average stay for those with missing dates is reduced, and fewer stays overlap with records of positive tests. The result of these changes has meant that approximately 1,200 historic COVID admissions have been removed due to improvements in methodology to handle missing discharge dates, while approximately 820 have been added to the cumulative total with the inclusion of reinfections. COVID-19 hospital admissions are now identified as the following: A patient's first positive PCR or LFD test of the episode of infection (including reinfections at 90 days or more) for COVID-19 up to 14 days prior to admission to hospital, on the day of their admission or during their stay in hospital. If a patient's first positive PCR or LFD test of the episode of infection is after their date of discharge from hospital, they are not included in the analysis. Information on COVID-19, including stay at home advice for people who are self-isolating and their households, can be found on NHS Inform. Data visualisation of Scottish COVID-19 cases is available on the Public Health Scotland - Covid 19 Scotland dashboard. Further information on coronavirus in Scotland is available on the Scottish Government - Coronavirus in Scotland page, where further breakdown of past coronavirus data has also been published.