Over the last several months, I’ve provided you with pertinent COVID-19 data broken down by zip code and county, so you can keep a close eye on the transmission levels in your local areas.  Many of you monitor this information daily, particularly as our children return to in-person learning.

As you can probably imagine, collecting and reporting all this data is no easy feat. The zip code data alone requires analysis of thousands of rows, daily.  Thankfully, I use some powerful software that makes analysis a breeze.  But just as important is direct access to the raw datasets. In fact, much of what I report to you is not possible without directly connecting to the underlying data extracts that feed into PA’s official COVID-19 Dashboard.  Can you imagine manually entering thousands and thousands of rows of data every single day?!  There’s no way! 

PA has provided public access to this underlying data…  until now.  Unfortunately, over the last few days, the state has either changed the location of these source datasets or changed the permissions to obtain access.  As a result, I’m currently unable to update my Pennsylvania visualizations with the most recent COVID-19 data.  This includes all  School Reopening Dashboards and my PA COVID-19 Data Visualizations.

I’m hoping this is just an oversight, and that the raw data will be publicly available again in the near future.  Regardless of the cause, I’m actively working on obtaining access (or a work-around) so I can continue to provide you with this information. 

The timing is awful.  Our numbers are trending upwards.   PA reported 1376 new cases today, the second day in a row that we’ve topped more than 1300, and the highest number of new cases in months.  And it’s not just because of increased testing.  Statewide, there are 687 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19, a 48% increase over the 7-day average of 465 reported just last week on 10/1 . 

Today, PA reported that a total of 8299 Pennsylvanians have died, an additional 55 deaths since Tuesday.  Meanwhile, many of our kids have just returned, or are scheduled to return to the classroom in the next few weeks. 

Now, more than ever, it’s imperative for us to have a good understanding of what’s going on so we can make informed decisions.  Please know that I am doing everything in my power to get this resolved.   I’m so sorry for this inconvenience, and appreciate your patience as this gets sorted out. 

Stay well –