[MISLEADING] Will the US government end daily COVID-19 death reporting starting from Feb. 2, 2022?

Screenshot of the Weibo post.

The Claim and Our Verdict

• The claim:A Weibo post published Jan. 15, 2022, claims that the U.S. government will end daily COVID-19 death reporting starting from Feb. 2, 2022.
• Fact-checking:
  • On Jan. 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) updated its guidance on COVID-19 data reporting for hospitals. The updated guidance, taking effect Feb. 2, says hospitals no longer need to report the previous day’s COVID-19 deaths to the federal government. However, this requirement is not the same as a complete cessation of COVID-19 deaths data collecting and reporting in the U.S.
  • Sarah Lovenheim, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the HHS, said in a tweet, “Hospitals continue to report fatalities to us (HHS). We just no longer ask that they report their data (COVID-19 deaths) to two different systems.”
  • The Chinese-language hashtag in the Weibo post, which translates as “the U.S. government is going to end daily COVID-19 death reporting,” may mislead people to believe that the U.S. government will completely stop collecting and reporting data on COVID-19 deaths. In fact, the guidance updated by the HHS is about changes in the reporting process of the data, aiming to reduce reporting burdens on hospitals. Starting from Feb. 2, 2022, hospitals would no longer need to report the previous day’s COVID-19 deaths to the federal government, but they still need to report it to the HHS which will continue to collect the data.
• Our ruling: We rate the claim as MISLEADING.

News Brief

A Weibo post published Jan. 15, 2022, claims that the U.S. government is about to end daily COVID-19 death reporting. It adds, “No reporting equals no death,” indicating the federal government would implement “the new policy” to cover the real number of deaths.

As of the issuance of this report, the post had been shared 799 times, and had received 224 comments and 4,123 likes.

Fact-checking

Keyword searches found a document updated Jan. 6, 2022, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), titled “COVID-19 Guidance for Hospital Reporting and FAQs For Hospitals, Hospital Laboratory, and Acute Care Facility Data Reporting.” As mentioned in the first page of the document, it will enter into force for Pediatric and Influenza Fields on Feb. 2, 2022. On page 12, the table’s row of ID 16 reads, “This field has been made inactive for the federal data collection. Hospitals no longer need to report these data elements to the federal government. No change is required to reporting templates.” The claim, therefore, originates from this document.
 

Screenshot of the document updated Jan. 6 by HHS.

 
Sarah Lovenheim, assistant secretary for public affairs at the HHS, responded to  public inquiries in a tweet: “Hospitals continue to report fatalities to us (HHS). We just no longer ask that they report their data to two different systems. The National Vital Statistics System remains the most comprehensive data set, reducing reporting burdens on hospitals while maintaining transparency.”
 

Screenshot of the tweet by Lovenheim.

 
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Vital Statistics System, housed under the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) portion of the CDC, provides provisional COVID-19 death data through death certificate reports. CDC is one of the major components of the HHS. Therefore, the document updated by the HHS indicates some changes in the reporting process of COVID-19 deaths data, rather than a complete cessation of data reporting. Starting from Feb. 2, 2022, hospitals no longer need to report the previous day’s COVID-19 deaths to the federal government, but they still need to report it to the HHS. HHS will continue to collect the data.
 

Screenshot of the process of COVID-19 deaths data collecting and reporting by the NCHS.

 
The Chinese-language hashtag in the Weibo post, which translates as “the U.S. government is going to end daily COVID-19 death reporting,” may mislead people to believe that the U.S. government will completely stop collecting and reporting data on COVID-19 deaths. In fact, the health authority in the U.S. will continue to collect the data.