U.S. County COVID-19 Transmission Levels as Originally Posted

CDC's dataset provides daily community transmission levels for U.S. counties, with 7 data elements per record. It contains the originally posted values used for the COVID Data Tracker maps, updated daily until October 2022 when updates shifted to weekly. The data is produced by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Use Cases

• Analyze daily changes in county-level transmission levels to model outbreak progression.
• Correlate the 'total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 persons' metric with other public health datasets.
• Map the 'percentage of positive SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic NAAT' metric to identify regional testing disparities.
• Study the assignment of 'low, moderate, substantial, or high' transmission categories based on CDC calculation rules.

Strengths

• Data originates from the authoritative U.S. CDC and is used for official COVID Data Tracker maps.
• Provides 7 distinct data elements for each county record, including key transmission metrics.
• Offers daily temporal granularity for tracking rapid changes in community transmission.

Limitations

• The dataset's update frequency changed from daily to weekly in October 2022, potentially reducing timeliness for recent analysis.
• Specific row count, column names, and sample data are unavailable for assessing scale and structure.
• Relies on jurisdictional reporting, which may introduce inconsistencies or delays in county-level data.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Collection Method

Aggregated from jurisdictional and state partners, using calculated metrics for new case rates and test positivity.

Time Range

Covers dates up to the last update; includes daily data appended until the policy change in October 2022.

Freshness

Updated daily until October 20, 2022, after which updates shifted to weekly (typically Thursdays).

Geography

County-level data for the United States.