Comments Open on CDC's Flu and COVID Data Gathering
Published Date: 5/12/2026
Notice
Summary
The CDC wants your thoughts on their plan to keep collecting important data about respiratory illnesses like COVID-19, flu, and RSV to help protect public health. This affects hospitals and health agencies who share this info, and your feedback can shape how the data is gathered. Comments are open until July 13, 2026, with no new costs announced, just a chance to make the process better and easier.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Higher Reporting Burden for Health Facilities
CDC is revising 10 existing NHSN respiratory data collection forms and requests OMB approval for an estimated annual burden of 1,697,390 hours. The collection was previously approved for 3,323,021 responses and 1,558,384 burden hours, and reporting will involve hospitals, long-term care and dialysis facilities, microbiologists, and IT staff using weekly, daily, CSV, and API submissions.
Form Content Changes for Reporters
CDC is revising questions on 10 existing NHSN data collection forms, including adding, modifying, or removing certain questions and adjusting the estimated time to respond. These changes affect how hospitals and other reporting facilities complete weekly and daily forms (user entry, .csv import, and API).
CDC Continues Public Respiratory Surveillance
CDC will keep collecting and publicly reporting hospital respiratory data about COVID-19, influenza, and RSV so the public and health officials can spot local, state, and national trends. The data will continue to be used alongside wastewater, laboratory, and emergency department data and to help inform flu and COVID-19 forecasting.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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