A Vaccine Arrives as Deaths Rise and Southern California Cases Soar: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Dec 17
The news this week is extremely mixed: In the Midwest, cases and hospitalizations are falling. California reported a quarter of a million cases this week, and in Los Angeles County, one in 80 people has COVID-19. More than 50,000 Black Americans have died of COVID-19 as we near 300,000 total US COVID-19 deaths. The first doses of vaccine have arrived in hospitals and on their way to most US nursing homes, where cases continue to rise.
Vaccines Begin to Arrive as Cases and Deaths Keep Rising: This Week in Long-Term Care COVID-19 Data, Dec 16
Cases are up and known deaths in long-term-care facilities are the highest they’ve been since late May.
Test Types 101: The Pros and Cons of Different Approaches
Once limited to molecular tests, the United States now has other testing methods available. Their efficacy depends on multiple factors, including how far the person tested is in their infection and how high the test positivity is where they live.


Current, New, and Cumulative Hospitalizations: What They Are and Why They Matter
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise across the country, but the method in which they are reported can take several different forms. We dive into the meaning of some of the most common metrics and comment on why some may be more interpretable than others.


New HHS dataset tells us precisely where COVID-19 is hitting hospitals
The Department of Health and Human Services released a new public dataset on December 7 that includes data down to the facility level on where COVID-19 patients are hospitalized and how healthcare systems are coping. We explored how to use this dataset and what patterns it can reveal.
Our Worst Week Yet: This Week in COVID-19 Data, Dec 10
Reported COVID-19 deaths hit all-time daily and weekly highs this week, and cases and hospitalizations continue to rise.