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In an effort to aid scientists and researchers in the fight against COVID-19, The Times has released its database of California coronavirus cases to the public.

To follow the virus’ spread, The Times is conducting an independent survey of dozens of local health agencies across the state. The effort, run continually throughout the day, supplies the underlying data for this site’s coronavirus tracker.

Its tallies can arrive days ahead of numbers published by the California Department of Public Health. By polling local agencies, The Times database also gathers some information not provided by the state. The system has won praise from public health officials, who do not dispute its method of data collection.

In recent weeks, experts have asked for access to the records in order to better study the pandemic. Starting today, the database is available on Github, a popular website for hosting data and computer code. The files will be updated daily at github.com/datadesk/california-coronavirus-data.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.