Important notes on our first weekly COVID-19 Data Dashboard update

We look forward to offering our first weekly update tomorrow to the ADHS COVID-19 Data Dashboard.

Here are some important notes on what you’ll see:

Summary Page: With our shift to weekly updates, the Summary page will now show the number of new cases, deaths, and vaccine doses from the previous week’s update to the current week’s update. For this first weekly launch, these numbers will represent the difference between the data reported for Feb. 13-19 and Feb. 20-26.

Hospitalizations: We are adding a two-week lag to COVID-19 hospitalizations reported on the dashboard. For this first week of weekly reporting, that means there may be a temporary decrease in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations compared to the last daily data update on Saturday, Feb. 26. Those hospitalized cases with a specimen collection date within the last two weeks will be added as the reporting window moves forward. This two-week lag allows for more accuracy in data because of the lag that often exists when matching positive cases to hospital records.

Deaths: To provide a more complete view, we are adding a four-week lag to COVID-19 deaths reported on our dashboard. Because of that, the total reported tomorrow will be lower than our last daily update showed on Saturday, Feb. 26. Deaths for which the specimen collection date occurred within the last four weeks will be added as the reporting window moves forward. This is consistent with the lag built into other reports, including our report on Rates of COVID-19 by Vaccination Status.

Shifting to weekly updates is consistent with other infectious disease reporting and in line with how public health looks for trends. Rather than daily numbers that fluctuate according to when laboratories and others operate, a weekly update provides a clearer picture of what’s happening with COVID-19 metrics.

We’re proud of what the COVID-19 Data Dashboard means to Arizonans and hope you will find this change as helpful as we do.

By Jessica Rigler|2022-03-01T14:47:56-07:00March 1st, 2022|General, Preparedness|Comments Off

About the Author: Jessica Rigler

Jessica Rigler, an Arizona native, began her public health career more than 15 years ago, serving in varied roles with local, state, federal, and international public health agencies. Jessica has been with the Arizona Department of Health Services for over 12 years, supporting evaluation activities with the state immunization program, serving as the state’s first Healthcare Associated Infections Coordinator, and leading the Bureau of Epidemiology and Disease Control. She is currently an Assistant Director overseeing the Division of Public Health Preparedness at ADHS, which spans the areas of Epidemiology and Disease Control, Emergency Medical Services, Public Health Statistics, Public Health Emergency Preparedness and the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory. In recent years, Jessica has worked with the ADHS team to lead critical public health responses including opioids and COVID-19. Jessica holds Bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and human development from the University of California, San Diego, and a Master’s degree in public health from Emory University. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist and certified in infection control.