covid-19-data

This repository is the New York Times archive of Covid-19 case and death data for the United States, collected from the start of the pandemic in early 2020 through March 2023. It is no longer being updated. As of that date, the Times switched to using data from the federal government for its ongoing Covid tracking pages, and this repository was frozen as a historical record.

The core of the archive is a set of CSV files, which are plain-text spreadsheets, recording the cumulative count of confirmed and probable Covid-19 cases and deaths over time. These counts are organized at three geographic levels: the whole country in one file, broken down by state in another, and broken down by county in a third. Each row in these files represents a single day and location, with the total number of cases and deaths reported up to that point.

Beyond the main case and death counts, the repository includes several additional data sets. One tracks outbreaks in prisons, another in colleges and universities, and a third estimates the elevated number of total deaths during the pandemic compared to historical norms. There is also a one-time survey from July 2020 on mask use by county, and a set of pre-calculated rolling averages intended to smooth out the day-to-day noise in the raw counts.

The data was compiled by Times journalists monitoring government announcements and health department releases across all states and territories. The README explains the methodology in detail, including how the team handled inconsistencies in how different states classified and reported cases.

Anyone can download the files directly or copy the entire repository. The data has been used for research, journalism, and data visualization projects.