US government says contract for Covid-19 database was competitively bid

The Pittsburgh company that won a $10.2 million contract to run the Trump administration’s new coronavirus database beat five other firms that bid on the work, according to officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, who said a federal website that listed the award as a “sole source” contract was in error.

The contract to TeleTracking Technologies became the subject of scrutiny this week after the administration ordered hospitals and states to begin reporting coronavirus information to the website that the company was managing instead of to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The New York Times reported on the contract Wednesday.

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As of early Friday afternoon, the federal website USASpending.gov listed the contract as “only one source” and “not competed.” But in response to the Times article, health department officials — who did not respond Wednesday to questions about the contract — said the website was mistaken and that in fact, six firms bid on the work. The officials would not name the other bidders, saying they were “prohibited from sharing that information by federal regulations and statutes.

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“The TeleTracking contract was part of a competitive solicitation process and was not sole source,” the officials said. “One of the websites that track federal spending contained an error that incorrectly categorized the award as sole source. That coding error is being corrected.”

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