"The government should restore all the data that had been previously collected and make it available," says Irma Elo. She describes the federal statistical system, which collects population-level census and health data, as "the only independent source of data that we have."
"You cannot just replace it without having a huge influx of resources," she says, or without the expertise of statistical agencies that have collected and published these data for decades.
Citation:
"Some Federal Health Websites Restored, Others Still Down, after Data Purge," NPR, W Stone, P Huang, February 6, 2025.