Tuesday Coronavirus Update: State reporting error delays case count; 1 new death
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Ventura County officials could not report a daily COVID-19 case count Tuesday, citing technical issues with the state's disease registry system known as CalREDIE.
The issues caused the state system to undercount the number of tests conducted and positive cases provided by electronic lab reports, according to California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.
Since early on in the pandemic, county officials have released figures for positive cases almost daily. In May, the county stopped providing numbers on Saturdays and Sundays but it's been rare not to provide a tally on a week day.
In reporting the delay of numbers, the county said the issue does not affect patients waiting on test results, as laboratories provide results directly to hospitals and healthcare providers. Hospitalization and death rates are also unaffected due to being reported through different systems.
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In Ventura County, officials added one new death attributed to the virus Tuesday in a 92-year-old man with coexisting health issues. Tuesday's fatality brings the county death toll up to 77.
Additionally, the number of hospitalized cases of coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, was at 79 as of Tuesday, with 21 receiving care in intensive care units.
Ventura County's last coronavirus case count was at 7,877 as of Monday, with 533 new cases being added over the weekend.
The state's data page now carries a disclaimer saying the numbers "represent an underreporting of actual positive cases" per day.
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom gave his most optimistic report on the state's virus efforts since a second surge of cases in early June. He noted daily cases had dropped by an average of 2,200 in the last week and the infection rate of 6.1% was significantly lower than the nearly 8% recorded last month.
Ghaly acknowledged the rate Newsom highlighted was based on incomplete data and that missing data is being inputted manually. He stressed that looking at one- and two-week trends can help account for missing data from individual days.
The California Department of Public Health took several steps Tuesday to address the reporting issue, including sending a team from the California Department of Technology to assess CalREDIE and asking laboratories to manually report all positive cases directly to public health departments in the meantime.
County officials said they expected a full update Wednesday. The county will provide a public briefing on the current status of the coronavirus pandemic at 1 p.m. Wednesday from Food Share Ventura County, specifically focusing on services offered to vulnerable populations during the pandemic.
A livestream of the briefing can be accessed at https://vimeo.com/event/41777.
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Map: COVID-19 by county
More than 515,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported elsewhere in California outside Ventura County.
The Star's Data Central page has an interactive map tracking confirmed COVID-19 cases, recoveries and deaths across the state, country and world.
The map is updated automatically and shows a closeup of each California county, or zoom out to see numbers from around the nation and the world.
Not seeing the map? Click here to get to our interactive Data Central page: https://data.vcstar.com/coronavirus/.
Associated Press reports were used in this story.
Jeremy Childs is a breaking news and public safety reporter covering the night shift for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached by calling 805-437-0208 or emailing jeremy.childs@vcstar.com. You can also find him on Twitter @Jeremy_Childs.