> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://cetialphafive.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The State of US COVID Data: A Reality Check
- URL: https://cetialphafive.com/the-state-of-us-covid-data-a-reality-check/
- Published: 2025-09-14T04:08:24.000Z
- Updated: 2025-09-14T05:38:45.000Z
- Author: fC
- Tags: #Import 2026-07-18 00:18

<style="font-size: 18px;">*The below dashboard is updated weekly with what little resources are still available.*

[US COVID-19 Reality Dashboard - September 14, 2025![](https://cetialphafive.com/content/images/icon/favicon.ico)September 14, 2025](https://cetialphafive.com/covid%5Freality%5Fdashboard.html)

As of 2023, the United States has largely abandoned comprehensive COVID-19 surveillance, leaving citizens without critical data to assess their risk. This document explains what happened, what remains, and why it matters.

## Timeline of Data Dismantling

### May 11, 2023: The Turning Point

- Public Health Emergency declaration ended
- Hospital reporting became **voluntary** (was mandatory)
- CDC COVID Data Tracker discontinued
- Most federal funding for testing ended

### What We Lost

| Data Type                | Before May 2023                 | After May 2023                           | Impact                              |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| **Case Counts**          | Daily reporting from all states | Minimal testing, no systematic reporting | Cannot track infection rates        |
| **Hospital Data**        | Mandatory daily reporting       | Voluntary, sporadic                      | Cannot assess healthcare strain     |
| **Deaths**               | Timely reporting                | Weeks to months delayed                  | Cannot track mortality trends       |
| **Testing**              | Widespread availability         | Minimal, mostly private                  | No population-level data            |
| **Genomic Surveillance** | Robust variant tracking         | Severely reduced                         | Limited variant detection           |
| **Vaccination**          | Detailed breakthrough tracking  | Limited data                             | Cannot assess vaccine effectiveness |

## What Remains Available

### 1\. Wastewater Surveillance (Primary Source)

- **Endpoint**: `https://data.cdc.gov/resource/2ew6-ywp6.json`
- **Coverage**: \~40% of US population
- **Updates**: Weekly
- **Reliability**: High (virus RNA doesn't lie)
- **Limitation**: Doesn't capture individual infections

### 2\. Limited State Reporting

**States Still Reporting** (with varying quality):

- California
- Minnesota
- Massachusetts
- North Carolina
- Washington

**Most States**: Little to no public data

### 3\. International Comparisons

Countries with better tracking:

- **UK**: Comprehensive surveillance continues
- **Denmark**: Detailed genomic tracking
- **Singapore**: Weekly MOH updates
- **Japan**: Sentinel surveillance

## The Hidden Reality

### Current Infection Estimates (from wastewater)

Based on wastewater percentiles:

- **\>80th percentile**: 2-4% of population actively infected
- **60-80th**: 1-2% infected
- **40-60th**: 0.5-1% infected
- **<40th**: <0.5% infected

### Long COVID: The Ignored Crisis

- **30-36%** of COVID infections result in long COVID
- **14+ million** Americans currently affected
- **No cure** or reliable treatment
- **Cumulative risk** with each reinfection
- **All ages** affected, including children

### Annual Deaths (Estimated)

- **2024**: \~47,000 deaths (no longer in top 10 causes)
- **Context**: Still more than car accidents
- **Undercount**: Likely significant due to reduced testing

## Why Data Was Discontinued

### Official Reasons Given

- "Emergency phase is over"- a complete lie
- "Transition to endemic management" - even though endemic in this case means it is continuously present in the population in relatively stable numbers. This is extremely flawed logic
- "Resources needed elsewhere" - anybody have any clue where?
- "Similar to flu surveillance" - another lie

### Likely Additional Factors

- Economic pressure to "return to normal"
- Political fatigue with pandemic measures
- Healthcare industry lobbying
- Avoiding liability for ongoing transmission
- Money line must go up

### The False Equivalence with Flu

COVID is **NOT** like the flu:

- Higher transmission rate
- Long COVID has no flu equivalent
- Year-round transmission (no seasonal pattern)
- More organ systems affected
- Higher mutation rate

## Alternative Data Sources

### Community-Driven Initiatives

1. **People's CDC** (peoplescdc.org)
  - Weekly "Weather Reports"
  - Community risk assessments
  - Advocacy for better data
2. **Independent Researchers**
  - Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran)
  - Dr. Eric Topol (@EricTopol)
  - Mike Hoerger (PMC COVID Tracker)
3. **Biobot Analytics**
  - Commercial wastewater monitoring
  - Some public data available

### What You Can Track

- Wastewater levels in your area
- Anecdotal reports from healthcare workers
- International data for comparison
- Pharmacy sales of COVID tests
- School absence rates

## The Implications

### For Individuals

- **Cannot assess personal risk** accurately
- **No warning** of surge periods
- **Blind to variant emergence**
- **Long COVID risk** remains hidden

### For Public Health

- **Cannot respond** to outbreaks effectively
- **No early warning** system
- **Variant surveillance** compromised
- **Resource allocation** becomes guesswork

### For Society

- **False sense of security** from lack of data
- **Continued transmission** without awareness
- **Growing disabled population** from long COVID
- **Economic impacts** hidden but accumulating

## What Needs to Happen

### Immediate Needs

1. Restore mandatory hospital reporting
2. Fund widespread wastewater surveillance
3. Provide free testing with reporting
4. Track long COVID systematically
5. Resume genomic surveillance

### Long-term Requirements

1. Independent public health data infrastructure
2. Legal protections for data transparency
3. Pandemic preparedness funding
4. Long COVID research and treatment
5. Indoor air quality standards

## How to Use Limited Data

### Risk Assessment Framework

Given data limitations, consider:

**Higher Risk Situations**:

- High wastewater levels (>60th percentile)
- Crowded indoor spaces
- Poor ventilation
- Unmasked gatherings
- Healthcare settings

**Protective Measures Still Work**:

- N95/KN95 masks
- Ventilation/filtration
- Testing when available
- Vaccination (reduces severe outcomes)
- Avoiding crowds when feasible

### Personal Data Tracking

Keep your own records:

- Exposure events
- Symptoms (even mild)
- Test results
- Vaccination dates
- Recovery timeline

## The Bottom Line

### What We Know

- COVID continues circulating year-round
- Long COVID affects 1 in 3 infections
- Wastewater shows ongoing transmission
- Many countries track better than the US
- The virus continues evolving

### What We Don't Know

- Exact infection rates
- Current variants circulating
- True mortality numbers
- Healthcare system strain
- Long-term societal impact

### The Cruel Irony

We have **less data** during the **endemic phase** when personal risk assessment is **most critical**.

## Call to Action

### For Individuals

1. **Assume transmission** is occurring
2. **Protect yourself** based on your risk tolerance
3. **Share information** with others
4. **Support** community tracking efforts
5. **Advocate** for data transparency

### For Healthcare Workers

1. **Report** what you're seeing
2. **Track** patterns in your practice
3. **Educate** patients about ongoing risks
4. **Advocate** for surveillance
5. **Document** long COVID cases

### For Policymakers

1. **Restore** comprehensive surveillance
2. **Fund** public health infrastructure
3. **Mandate** transparent reporting
4. **Support** long COVID research
5. **Prepare** for future pandemics

## Resources

### Data & Tracking

- CDC NWSS: [https://www.cdc.gov/nwss](https://www.cdc.gov/nwss?ref=cetialphafive.com)
- People's CDC: [https://peoplescdc.org](https://peoplescdc.org/?ref=cetialphafive.com)
- Biobot: [https://biobot.io](https://biobot.io/?ref=cetialphafive.com)
- PMC Tracker: [https://pmc19.com/data/](https://pmc19.com/data/?ref=cetialphafive.com)

### Information

- Your Local Epidemiologist: [https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com](https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/)
- Eric Topol's Ground Truths: [https://erictopol.substack.com](https://erictopol.substack.com/)
- Death Panel Podcast: [https://www.deathpanel.net](https://www.deathpanel.net/?ref=cetialphafive.com)

### Advocacy

- Marked By COVID: [https://markedbycovid.com](https://markedbycovid.com/?ref=cetialphafive.com)
- Long COVID Justice: [https://longcovidjustice.org](https://longcovidjustice.org/?ref=cetialphafive.com)
- Be A Hero: [https://beaherofund.org](https://beaherofund.org/?ref=cetialphafive.com)

### International Data

- UK Dashboard: [https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk](https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/?ref=cetialphafive.com)
- Denmark SSI: [https://covid19.ssi.dk](https://covid19.ssi.dk/?ref=cetialphafive.com)
- Our World in Data: [https://ourworldindata.org/covid-cases](https://ourworldindata.org/covid-cases?ref=cetialphafive.com)

## Conclusion

The systematic dismantling of COVID surveillance in the US represents a profound failure of public health policy. Citizens are being asked to make personal risk assessments without data, while a mass disabling event (long COVID) continues largely unmeasured and unaddressed.

**The virus didn't disappear when we stopped counting.** **The risk didn't decrease when we stopped reporting.** **Long COVID didn't stop when we stopped tracking.**

This dashboard exists because our institutions failed us. It uses what little data remains to provide some visibility into ongoing transmission. But it shouldn't have to exist. We deserve better. We deserve transparency. We deserve data.

**Stay safe. Stay informed. Demand better.**