The HHS Teletracking COVID-19 Portal was introduced in July as a way for about 5,500 hospitals to directly report requested data on the virus.

HHS Protect currently collects more than 200 data sets from every state and territory. A lot of commercial off-the-shelf technology is involved.

The nearly $5 million contract covers a subscription to the Gotham data-sharing software. The Veterans Health Administration will use it to track and analyze COVID-19 outbreak areas.

Suzette Kent applauded many of the changes agencies have made to face the coronavirus, but said more collaboration is key to continued success.

The department cited the "unusual and compelling urgency" of the pandemic in awarding two HHS Protect system contracts without competition.

The USDS has some team members embedded in the White House Coronavirus Task Force and is pitching in at the state and local levels, among other things.

The Department of Health and Human Services' CIO shop developed HHS Protect in nine days and continues to scale the platform used by hundreds of officials, including…

The CDC is the only government agency that has made a COVID-19 data summary available to the public — but open-data advocates want to see more.

The Coronavirus Task Force further sought bed capacity and supply data in a Sunday letter to the nation's approximately 4,700 hospitals.