CDC to Shift on COVID Reporting

The daily COVID-19 case counts offered by the CDC for more than two years are about to end. The agency said Thursday that it will move to weekly counts starting Oct. 20. The CDC, which previously shifted to weekly reporting of vaccinations, said the move would "allow for additional reporting flexibility, reduce the reporting burden on states and jurisdictions, and maximize surveillance resources." Under new rules, state and local health departments will only need to report cases and deaths to the CDC every Wednesday, CBS News reports.

The CDC also updates its influenza data on a weekly basis, per the Hill. While many states and countries have already dropped daily COVID-19 case counts, along with masks and other precautions, "each passing day still brings hundreds of deaths and thousands of hospitalizations; untold numbers of people continue to deal with long COVID, as more join them," writes Katherine J. Wu at the Atlantic, warning "local public-health departments, underfunded and understaffed, are hanging by a thread. And a double surge of COVID and flu may finally be brewing." (More CDC stories.)