Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center to Shut Down on March 10

On February 10, NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’ reported the news that the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center will be shutting down on March 10.[0] The website, which has been viewed more than 2.5 billion times and has had 200 billion data requests since its launch, has been a valuable source of information on the virus over the last three years.[1]

The CRC, which has been an interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers and faculty from across Johns Hopkins, including the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Whiting School of Engineering, Applied Physics Laboratory, School of Medicine, Sheridan Libraries, and the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence, launched to meet the urgent need of governments lacking the capacity to mount comprehensive, real-time public health surveillance and reporting on the spread of SARS-CoV-2.[2]

The data reported between January 22, 2020, and March 10, 2023, will remain free and accessible to researchers, journalists, and the public.[3] The group of faculty and experts in data science, epidemiology, medicine, public health policy, and vaccinology that advised and led the Coronavirus Resource Center will also continue to provide analysis and guidance regarding the ongoing pandemic.[3]

Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels commented, “Every division of Johns Hopkins contributed to making the Coronavirus Resource Center into an invaluable, trusted source of information and guidance relied on by the public and policymakers. This interdisciplinary rapid response to the world’s worst pandemic in a century exemplifies the critical role research universities have to play in global crises. Johns Hopkins remains committed to providing the public with the most up-to-date research and analysis of the pandemic and will use these same tools to keep building a safer, healthier, more stable global community.”[3]

Engineering professor Lauren Gardner, who launched the project with a student on March 3, 2020, has described the outcome as a “bittersweet” moment although “it's also appropriate to leave it.” With the CDC now able to provide the information needed, the CRC is moving on to other ways of providing safety and security.[4]

0. “As the pandemic ebbs, an influential COVID tracker shuts down” NPR Illinois, 10 Feb. 2023, https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-02-10/as-the-pandemic-ebbs-an-influential-covid-tracker-shuts-down

1. “3 years after Johns Hopkins began collecting COVID data, the real-time tracker will end on March 10” WUSA9.com, 10 Feb. 2023, https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/health/johns-hopkins-end-covid-tracker-3-years-after-its-creation/65-cad98230-18d0-425e-9656-9ab198aa7563

2. “Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center to stop publishing daily data updates” Baltimore Sun, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-johns-hopkins-covid-resource-center-20230214-df4ainswuncbzi3re4veb7ukxu-story.html

3. “Johns Hopkins winds down pioneering pandemic data tracking” Mirage News, 10 Feb. 2023, https://www.miragenews.com/johns-hopkins-winds-down-pioneering-pandemic-945428

4. “Johns Hopkins, a leader in casualty collection, will stop updating on March 10.” msnNOW, 11 Feb. 2023, https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/johns-hopkins-a-leader-in-casualty-collection-will-stop-updating-on-march-10/ar-AA17mVeq?ocid=Peregrine