Incorporating COVID-19 data from outside labs into Indiana’s official case count is proving to be a bit of a challenge. State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said Wednesday that thousands of new test results have been added to the state’s dashboard in the last couple weeks, but some of that data turned out to be wrong.
“We received results from a newly on-boarded lab that contained a file that included incorrect information due to a technical issue on the lab’s part,” Box explained. “As a result of that, we are removing 469 positive results that had been added to our dashboard this week, and we are expecting a corrected file from that same lab today, which will soon hit our dashboard.”
Box also said that some of the local health departments that have set up testing sites are using their own reporting system, so the number of overall tests isn’t currently included in the state’s count. “We recognize that we will continue to encounter situations that require us to correct the data and will continue to provide these explanations so Hoosiers can understand what changed and why,” Box said.
Box also shared some encouraging statistics about the spread of COVID-19. The color-coded map based on the number of new cases per capita and the positivity rate shows that most counties are in the lowest two levels, blue and yellow, with Marshall, Starke, and Pulaski all at blue this week. “This is a big improvement over where we started, which means Hoosiers are doing a lot of the right things” she said. “This is proof that wearing a mask and practicing social distancing does make a difference, so keep up the good work.”
She also noted that hospitalization numbers appear to be heading down but are still higher than the low point in late June.
