CDC Launches COVIDView Report

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that they are modifying surveillance systems that track coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The agency will adapt a system similar to FluView which is used to track influenza activity.

The report, COVIDView, will be updated each Friday and will include laboratory data and severity indicators including outpatient visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths.

The summary will include updates on virus information such as the percentage of respiratory specimens that have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, as reported by public health and clinical laboratories.

In addition, information about outpatient and emergency department visits for COVID-19-like illnesses will be updated for each of the 10 Health and Human Services surveillance regions and nationally.

Severe disease information such as the number of deaths and hospitalizations will be provided by COVID-Net, which provides surveillance through a network of more than 250 acute care hospitals across 14 states. Mortality data will be provided by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The first COVIDView was posted on April 3^rd and indicates that the overall cumulative COVID-19 associated hospitalization rate is 4.6 per 100,000. Currently the highest rates are occurring in individuals 65 years and older (13.8 per 100,000) and 50-64 year (7.4 per 100,000). According to the CDC, these rates are similar to what is seen at the beginning of an influenza epidemic.

Additionally, the percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza has increased to 8.2% and is above the epidemic threshold of 7.2%.

“The percent of deaths due to pneumonia has increased sharply since the end of February, while those due to influenza increased modestly through early March and declined this week. This could reflect an increase in deaths from pneumonia caused by non-influenza associated infections including COVID-19,” the report states.

Contagion® will continue to monitor COVID-19 in the United States and provide updates as they become available.