The Examiners Project
The Examiners Project aims to compile detailed records on COVID-19 deaths from local medical examiners and coroners across the U.S. The records are maintained separately from health authorities and often include case details that local governments do not make public, including the names; race and ethnicities; addresses and ZIP codes; and other important data points about those who have died. This data can be used to identify racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 mortality; track outbreaks in jails, prisons, nursing homes and homeless populations; examine trends in comorbidities and fact-check death counts in existing government data relating to the pandemic.
The Examiners Project, started by former JSK Fellow Matt Kiefer and now led by Chicago-based investigative journalist Kyra Senese, began with support from the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University as part of the Covid Public Info project. It included contributions from team members including JSK Fellow Garance Burke, as well as MuckRock and Outlier Media, and partner newsrooms around the country, including KQED.
Note: We've redacted names of individuals in data sets posted below, where they weren't already omitted. News organizations and researchers can contact us to access unredacted files.
Documenting COVID-19 has obtained public records from health departments and other local authorities in counties throughout the U.S. in recent months to gain insight into the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a repository of searchable documents related to the response to the virus. The project is now collaborating with Kiefer's team to continue progress on the medical examiner project.
If you have information or expertise that would be helpful to this project or would like to collaborate with us, you can email us at info@documentingcovid19.io.
Record Set(s)
California Bay Area COVID-19 and overdose death records
Date Updated: May 24, 2021
Date Added: May 24, 2021
Alameda, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties, CA
Principal Subject: Alameda, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties
This data includes 2018, 2019, 2020 and some partial 2021 death records from Alameda, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties. Some of the data is in .csv form and others are in .pdf form. For a full methodology on how this data was compiled, click here: https://www.kqed.org/news/11874753/how-we-analyzed-death-records-to-find-increasing-overdoses
Date Range: January 1, 2018, to April 29, 2021
Format Details: zipped file of .csv and .pdf record-level deaths records, with names redacted
Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office 2020 COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: April 7, 2021
Date Added: April 7, 2021
Santa Clara County, CA
Principal Subject: Santa Clara County Medical Examiner Michelle Jorden
This material includes the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office response to a California Public Records Act request for case records, including COVID-19 deaths, dating January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Information sought in the request includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office 2019 deaths
Date Updated: April 7, 2021
Date Added: April 7, 2021
Santa Clara County, CA
Principal Subject: Santa Clara County Medical Examiner Michelle Jorden
This material includes the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office response to a California Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019. Information sought in the request includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office 2018 deaths
Date Updated: April 7, 2021
Date Added: April 7, 2021
Santa Clara County, CA
Principal Subject: Santa Clara County Medical Examiner Michelle Jorden
This material includes the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office response to a California Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018. Information sought in the request includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Alameda County Sheriff’s Office COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: April 2, 2021
Date Added: March 30, 2021
Alameda County, CA
Principal Subject: Alameda County Sheriff/Coroner Gregory J. Ahern
This material includes the Alameda County Sheriff's Office response to a Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1, 2020, to September 29, 2020. Information sought in the request includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1, 2020, to September 29, 2020
Cook County Medical Examiner's Office COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: March 30, 2021
Date Added: March 30, 2021
Cook County, IL
Principal Subject: Cook County Medical Examiner Ponni Arunkumar
This material includes the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office response to an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request for case records dating January 4, 2019, to February 18, 2021. Information sought in the request includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 4, 2019, to February 18, 2021
Format Details: Zipped file, xlsx spreadsheet, 4.5 MB
Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: October 13, 2020
Date Added: October 13, 2020
Santa Clara County, CA
Principal Subject: Santa Clara County Medical Examiner Michelle Jorden
This material includes the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office response to a California Public Records Act request for case records dating November 1, 2019, to June 9, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: November 1, 2019, to June 9, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Orange County Medical Examiner's Office COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: October 12, 2020
Date Added: October 12, 2020
Orange County, FL
Principal Subject: Chief Medical Examiner Joshua D. Stephany
This material includes the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office response to a Florida Freedom of Information Act request for case records dating January 1 to June 19, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to June 19, 2020
Solano County Sheriff COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: October 12, 2020
Date Added: October 12, 2020
Solano County, CA
Principal Subject: Sheriff Thomas Ferrara
This material includes the Solano County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office response to a California Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1 to June 22, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to June 22, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: October 12, 2020
Date Added: October 12, 2020
Contra Costa, CA
Highlighted Documents: Office of the Sheriff response
Principal Subject: Sheriff Coroner David Livingston
This material includes the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff response to a California Public Records Act for case records dating January 1 to June 23, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to June 23, 2020
Format Details: PDF, 14 pages
Maricopa County Medical Examiner COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: October 11, 2020
Date Added: October 11, 2020
Maricopa County, AZ
This material includes the Office of the Medical Examiner of Maricopa County's response to an Arizona Public Records Law request for case records dating January 1 to July 2, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to July 2, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Sonoma County Sheriff's Office COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: October 9, 2020
Date Added: October 9, 2020
Sonoma County, CA
This material includes the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office response to a California Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1 to June 12, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to June 12, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Delaware County Office of the Medical Examiner COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: October 8, 2020
Date Added: October 8, 2020
Delaware County, PA
Principal Subject: Medical Examiner Frederic Hellman
This material includes the Delaware County Office of the Medical Examiner response to a Pennsylvania Right to Know Act request for case records dating January 1 to July 9, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to July 9, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Collier County Medical Examiner COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: October 8, 2020
Date Added: October 8, 2020
Collier County, FL
Principal Subject: Chief Medical Examiner Marta Coburn
This material includes the Collier County Medical Examiner response to a Freedom of Information Act request for case records dating January 1 to July 29, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to July 29, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
San Bernardino County Sheriff COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: September 29, 2020
Date Added: September 29, 2020
San Bernardino County, CA
Principal Subject: San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon
This material includes the San Bernardino County Sheriff response to a California Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1 to August 27, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to August 27, 2020
District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: September 25, 2020
Date Added: September 25, 2020
Washington, D.C., DC
Principal Subject: Dr. Roger Mitchell, chief medical examiner for the District of Columbia
This material includes the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner response to a Washington Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1 to August 28, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to August 28, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: September 23, 2020
Date Added: September 23, 2020
San Francisco city and county, CA
Principal Subject: San Francisco Chief Medical Examiner Michael Hunter
This material includes the San Francisco City and County Office of the Chief Medical Examiner response to a California Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1, 2020, to June 17, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1 to June 17, 2020
Format Details: zipped file of a .csv spreadsheet
Wayne County Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: September 23, 2020
Date Added: September 23, 2020
Wayne County, MI
Principal Subject: Carl Schmidt, chief medical examiner for Wayne County
This material includes the Wayne County Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services response to a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request for case records dating January 1, 2020, to June 11, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1, 2020, to June 11, 2020
Format Details: Zipped file, 1 spreadsheet
Harris County Institute Of Forensic Sciences COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: September 21, 2020
Date Added: September 21, 2020
Harris County, TX
Principal Subject: Luis Arturo Sanchez, executive director and chief medical examiner
This material includes the Harris County Institute Of Forensic Sciences response to a Texas Public Information Act request for case records dating January 1, 2020, to May 1, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, includes details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: Jan. 1, 2020, to May 1, 2020
Format Details: Zipped file, two xlsx spreadsheets
Cook County Medical Examiner's Office COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: September 21, 2020
Date Added: September 14, 2020
Cook County, IL
Principal Subject: Cook County Medical Examiner Ponni Arunkumar
This material includes the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office response to an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request for case records dating January 1, 2020, to August 14, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, include details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location; cause(s) of death.
Date Range: January 1, 2020, to August 14, 2020
Format Details: Zipped file, xlsx spreadsheet, 2 MB
San Diego County Medical Examiner COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: September 21, 2020
Date Added: September 14, 2020
San Diego, CA
Principal Subject: Glenn Wagner, San Diego County Medical Examiner
This material includes the San Diego County Medical Examiner office response to a Public Records Act request for case records dating November 1, 2019, to May 12, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, include details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location (zip code); cause(s) of death (indicating if COVID related); any other non-exempt information contained in case records.
Date Range: November 1, 2019, to May 12, 2020
Format Details: xlsx spreadsheet, zipped file
King County Medical Examiner COVID-19 deaths
Date Updated: September 14, 2020
Date Added: September 14, 2020
King County, WA
Principal Subject: King County Medical Examiner Richard Harruff
This material includes the King County Medical Examiner response to a Public Records Act request for case records dating January 1, 2019, to May 12, 2020. Information sought in the request, filed by Matt Kiefer, include details such as: date of death, race, ethnicity, age, gender, location (zip code); cause(s) of death (indicating if COVID related); any other non-exempt information contained in case records.
Date Range: January 1, 2020, to August 12, 2020
Format Details: Zipped file, 13 xlsx spreadsheet files
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