'Horrifying' data glitch skews key Iowa coronavirus figures, downplaying severity of outbreak

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald-AP

IOWA CITY (AP) — A state agency says it is working to fix a data error on Iowa’s coronavirus website that artificially lowers the number of new confirmed cases and therefore downplays the severity of the current outbreak.

The glitch means the Iowa Department of Public Health has inadvertently been reporting fewer new infections and a smaller percentage of daily positive tests than is truly the case, according to Dana Jones, an Iowa City nurse practitioner who uncovered the problem.

Potentially thousands of coronavirus infections from recent weeks and months have instead been erroneously recorded as having happened in March, April, May and June, Jones said Monday.

“It’s just horrifying. We have no idea what’s going on, really,” Jones said. “I don’t know how much this changes the positivity rate, but it is lower on the site than it truly is in reality.”


Read more: https://omaha.com/livewellnebraska/health/horrifying-data-glitch-skews-key-iowa-coronavirus-figures-downplaying-severity-of-outbreak/article_ea06bc83-ee9d-56f1-969d-7e7e5a04aa87.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

[cayugafalls]

1. And so it begins. Today Texas reported this little fact as well.

Walgreens Pharmacy coding error results in under-reporting of 59,000 COVID-19 test result

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213923533

[underpants]

2. Oh...yeah...that

Sorry about that. It was Karl’s fault. He’s new.

[morillon]

3. Glitch, my ass n/t

[Botany]

5. The computer is just doing what it was PROGRAMED TO DO

I'm not a computer engineer but having a machine add X + 1 is really simple.

[shelshaw]

9. Wait 'til they start counting votes

[Sucha NastyWoman]

4. It's a feature, not a bug.

Pay attention to the number of excess deaths so far this year.

[barbtries]

6. are they sure it's a glitch nt

[gab13by13]

7. It's probably the same software company that programs our voting machines.

I keep reminding people about this. I don't trust voting machines. I vote into a black hole, I get no paper receipt. Trump doesn't want voting by mail because it's harder to cheat when we use paper ballots.

[rurallib]

8. Thank you so much for this, Steve

I have been watching those numbers very closely and have been amazed that suddenly our case counts have been declining just at the time they need to for schools to be allowed to open.

Kim Reynolds (aka CovidKim) is by far the worst governor Iowa has had in my life.

Looks like we will be sacrificing some teachers starting next week.

[ananda]

10. I think this is true of many other states as well ..

.. mostly the red ones.

[riversedge]

11. this means LOTs of folks walking around not knowing they may be infecting others!

[stillcool]

12. oops...it's that damn counting thing

why the need to come clean? Got to be money involved somewhere.

[Bayard]

13. Not enough fingers?

My inlaws are all in Iowa, and we worry about them a lot. Especially the parents in their 80's.

[Cryptoad]

14. Funny how that shits happens,,,,,,,

[patphil]

15. Oops, you caught us!

Just toss those testing results into past and let them disappear down the timeline.
No need to update the current total to reflect them.

So, it's all just a glitch...a horrifying glitch.
Sonofa glitch!

[IcyPeas]

16. COVID-19 Hospital Data System That Bypasses CDC Plagued By Delays, Inaccuracies

Earlier this month, when the Trump administration told hospitals to send crucial data about coronavirus cases and intensive care capacity to a new online system, it promised the change would be worth it. The data would be more complete and transparent and an improvement over the old platform run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administration officials said.

Instead, the public data hub created under the new system is updated erratically and is rife with inconsistencies and errors, data analysts say.

...
The established system was disrupted by a memo dated July 10, issued to hospitals by HHS. In the memo, HHS took the unusual step of instructing hospitals to stop reporting the capacity data to CDC and to instead use a reporting platform developed recently by private contractor TeleTracking. As NPR has reported, the details of how the contract was awarded to TeleTracking are unclear.

Hospitals received only a few days notice of the change and scrambled to adapt.

The sudden reporting switch to HHS, bypassing CDC, prompted an immediate outcry. Public health groups objected to the change as unnecessary and burdensome for hospitals in the midst of a pandemic. Open government organizations demanded that HHS rescind its guidance and return control of the data to CDC. On Tuesday, 22 state attorneys general added to the chorus of those demanding that HHS reverse course.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/07/31/897429054/covid-19-hospital-data-system-that-bypasses-cdc-plagued-by-delays-inaccuracies