In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens of NSW want access to current and accurate data from a reliable source. The NSW Government is committed to making this data available to the public where is it is safe to do so to ensure transparency and promote innovation and an effective response to the pandemic.
The introduction of a public health order has enabled greater sharing of information to respond to COVID-19. Data collected by NSW Health on cases and people tested is available as open data on Data.NSW. Data is available on confirmed cases by location, age group and likely source of infection. Data on people tested is available by location, age group and result.
The NSW Data Analytics Centre (DAC) delivered the COVID-19 Open Data with emphasis on strong data governance. The datasets collected from NSW health contain only de-identified and aggregated data, and do not contain personal or health information. This data is updated daily (except on weekends) after it has been assessed for any risk of re-identification. If there is a risk, certain data is not be published.
COVID-19 data sets have been in the top five most downloaded and viewed datasets out of over 10,000 datasets available on Data.NSW. Since the launch of this initiative, the site has had over 250,000 visitors per month (including some API hits). This data can be used to create models, dashboards, find insights and understand the impact of COVID-19. It informs the public, government agencies and industry about the current situation and ensures government openness and transparency.
By releasing this data, we provide information about an evolving situation which directly affects our customers. Releasing the data provided knowledge and confidence to make decisions based on facts and trust in government.