Datasets:

EPI-Eval
/

owid-covid

pretty_name: OWID COVID-19 — global daily compiled
license: cc-by-4.0
size_categories:
  - 100K<n<1M
tags:
  - cadence-daily
  - geo-global
  - surveillance-respiratory
  - pathogen-sars-cov-2
  - tier-2
  - availability-open
schema_version: '0.1'
source_id: owid-covid
source_url: https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data
manifest_section: §16.1
surveillance_category: respiratory
pathogens:
  - sars-cov-2
availability: open
availability_notes: null
access_type: github
tier: 2
cadence: daily
geography_levels:
  - global
  - national
geography_countries:
  - multiple
gold_standard_for: []
vintaged_version_of: null
succeeds: null
derived_from: []
value_columns:
  - name: new_cases
    unit: cases/day
    value_type: incident
    description: New confirmed COVID-19 cases reported per day (per OWID's compilation)
    aggregation: sum
  - name: new_deaths
    unit: deaths/day
    value_type: incident
    description: New confirmed COVID-19 deaths per day
    aggregation: sum
  - name: icu_patients
    unit: patients
    value_type: stock
    description: Patients in ICU with COVID-19 (point-in-time)
    aggregation: mean
  - name: hosp_patients
    unit: patients
    value_type: stock
    description: Patients in hospital with COVID-19 (point-in-time)
    aggregation: mean
  - name: weekly_icu_admissions
    unit: admissions/week
    value_type: incident
    description: >-
      New weekly ICU admissions for COVID-19 (carried on the date OWID assigns
      within the week)
    aggregation: sum
  - name: weekly_hosp_admissions
    unit: admissions/week
    value_type: incident
    description: New weekly hospital admissions for COVID-19
    aggregation: sum
  - name: new_tests
    unit: tests/day
    value_type: incident
    description: New tests performed (any type) per day
    aggregation: sum
  - name: positive_rate
    unit: proportion (0-1)
    value_type: proportion
    description: Share of COVID-19 tests that are positive
    aggregation: rate
  - name: people_vaccinated
    unit: people
    value_type: cumulative
    description: Cumulative number of people who have received at least one vaccine dose
    aggregation: max
  - name: people_fully_vaccinated
    unit: people
    value_type: cumulative
    description: >-
      Cumulative number of people fully vaccinated under the country's primary
      protocol
    aggregation: max
  - name: total_boosters
    unit: doses
    value_type: cumulative
    description: Cumulative booster doses administered
    aggregation: max
notes:
  extra_columns:
    - column: location_name
      description: OWID's English country / aggregate name. `location_id` is canonical.
  interpretation_caveats:
    - column: new_cases
      caveat: >
        Compiled from a mix of national sources with very different definitions
        and

        reporting cadences. Many countries publish weekly only; OWID assigns the
        value

        to a single day in the week, leaving the surrounding days as 0/NaN.
        Treat as a

        low-resolution signal post-2022.
    - column: positive_rate
      caveat: >-
        Computed by OWID from `new_tests`. Both inputs are sparsely reported, so
        this column has heavy missingness.
  general: >
    OWID's compilation is the broadest single COVID-19 time series available; it
    is

    *not* a primary source. For US analysis, prefer NHSN HRD; for
    forecast-target use,

    prefer the relevant forecast hub's truth file.
extra:
  source_columns_omitted: >-
    70+ smoothing/per-capita derivative columns dropped (recoverable from kept
    incident columns).
  owid_iso_aggregates_dropped:
    - OWID_AFR
    - OWID_ASI
    - OWID_EUR
    - OWID_EUN
    - OWID_HIC
    - OWID_LIC
    - OWID_LMC
    - OWID_NAM
    - OWID_OCE
    - OWID_SAM
    - OWID_UMC
computed:
  last_ingested: '2026-04-26T12:49:09Z'
  row_count: 396995
  time_coverage:
    - start: '2020-01-01'
      end: '2024-08-14'
  geography_unit_count: 238
  observed_cadence_days: 1
  missing_gaps: []
  data_hash: 2a8ae627b9336e85

OWID COVID-19 — global daily compiled

OWID's compilation is the broadest single COVID-19 time series available; it is not a primary source. For US analysis, prefer NHSN HRD; for forecast-target use, prefer the relevant forecast hub's truth file.

Source: https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data

Coverage

Time: 2020-01-01 → 2024-08-14
Cadence: daily (observed median spacing: 1 days)
Geography levels: global, national — 238 unique location IDs
Countries: multiple
Pathogens: sars-cov-2
Surveillance category: respiratory
Rows: 396,995

Columns

Column	Unit	value_type	Aggregation	Description
`new_cases`	cases/day	`incident`	`sum`	New confirmed COVID-19 cases reported per day (per OWID's compilation)
`new_deaths`	deaths/day	`incident`	`sum`	New confirmed COVID-19 deaths per day
`icu_patients`	patients	`stock`	`mean`	Patients in ICU with COVID-19 (point-in-time)
`hosp_patients`	patients	`stock`	`mean`	Patients in hospital with COVID-19 (point-in-time)
`weekly_icu_admissions`	admissions/week	`incident`	`sum`	New weekly ICU admissions for COVID-19 (carried on the date OWID assigns within the week)
`weekly_hosp_admissions`	admissions/week	`incident`	`sum`	New weekly hospital admissions for COVID-19
`new_tests`	tests/day	`incident`	`sum`	New tests performed (any type) per day
`positive_rate`	proportion (0-1)	`proportion`	`rate`	Share of COVID-19 tests that are positive
`people_vaccinated`	people	`cumulative`	`max`	Cumulative number of people who have received at least one vaccine dose
`people_fully_vaccinated`	people	`cumulative`	`max`	Cumulative number of people fully vaccinated under the country's primary protocol
`total_boosters`	doses	`cumulative`	`max`	Cumulative booster doses administered

Additional data columns

location_name — OWID's English country / aggregate name. location_id is canonical.

Interpretation caveats

Things that may differ from how other sources define a similar measure. If you're combining this dataset with another, read these first.

new_cases — Compiled from a mix of national sources with very different definitions and reporting cadences. Many countries publish weekly only; OWID assigns the value to a single day in the week, leaving the surrounding days as 0/NaN. Treat as a low-resolution signal post-2022.
positive_rate — Computed by OWID from new_tests. Both inputs are sparsely reported, so this column has heavy missingness.

Access

Availability: open
Access type: github
License: cc-by-4.0
Tier: 2

Schema version 0.1 · Last ingested 2026-04-26T12:49:09Z · source_id: owid-covid · Manifest section §16.1