After more than two years of publishing data on COVID-19 cases and deaths on a daily basis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday it would shift to weekly updates to its nationwide tracking of the virus.
“To allow for additional reporting flexibility, reduce the reporting burden on states and jurisdictions, and maximize surveillance resources, CDC is moving to a weekly reporting cadence,” the agency wrote in a post to explain the move.
Starting on October 20, state and local health departments will now only need to report new COVID-19 cases and deaths to the agency every week on Wednesdays. The CDC’s COVID-19 Community Level ratings, which guide recommendations on whether counties should be taking steps like masking to curb a surge in hospitalizations, are already updated only weekly on Thursdays. COVID-19 forecasts updated by the agency will also now come on a day later on Thursdays.