Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemiology reports, Australia, 2020

This page contains links to epidemiological reports, published in CDI, on the incidence, severity, and distribution of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) [previously known as novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)] within Australia.

Page last updated: 18 January 2021

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Read this first: answers to frequently asked questions about the reports

Q: Can I request access to the COVID-19 data behind your CDI fortnightly reports?

A: National notification data on COVID-19 confirmed cases is collated in the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) based on notifications made to state and territory health authorities under the provisions of their relevant public health legislation.

Normally, requests for the release of data from the NNDSS requires agreement from states and territories via the Communicable Diseases Network Australia, and, depending on the sensitivity of the data sought and proposed, ethics approval may also be required.

Due to the COVID-19 response, unfortunately, specific requests for NNDSS data have been put on hold. We are currently looking into options to be able to respond to data requests in the near future.

We will continue to publish regular summaries and analyses of the NNDSS dataset and recommend the following resources be referred to in the meantime:

NNDSS summary tables: http://www9.health.gov.au/cda/source/cda-index.cfm
Daily case summary of cases: https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers
Communicable Diseases Intelligence COVID-19 epidemiology report: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/novel_coronavirus_2019_ncov_weekly_epidemiology_reports_australia_2020.htm
State and territory public health websites.

Q: Can I request access to data at post-code level of confirmed cases?

A: Data at this level cannot be released without ethics approval and permission would need to be sought from all states and territories via the Communicable Diseases Network Australia. As noted above, specific requests for NNDSS data are currently on hold.

A GIS/mapping analysis of cases will be included in each Communicable Diseases Intelligence COVID-19 epidemiology report. In order to protect privacy of confirmed cases, data in this map will be presented at SA3 level.

Q: Where can I find more detailed data on COVID-19 cases?

A: We are currently looking into ways to provide more in-depth epidemiological analyses of COVID-19 cases, with regard to transmission and severity, including hospitalisation. These analyses will continue to be built upon in future iterations of the Communicable Diseases Intelligence report.

Q: Where do I find the COVID-19 background information which was included as Appendix A in previous fortnightly epidemiology reports?

A: This information was most recently published in Epidemiology Report 24. Additional information can be found in the CDNA Series of National Guidelines (SoNG) for COVID-19.