Covid-19 Cases Jump Throughout Calif. Due to Computer Glitch

Revelations that computer problems led to the underreporting of more than 300,000 test results in California last month led to the resignation of the state’s top health official and ballooned the number of reported cases across the state, including in Santa Clara County.

This prompted the county Department of Public Health to issue a statement late Monday that read: “As we have previously noted, because of two separate issues with the state’s CalREDIE data reporting system, the number of COVID-19 cases and related data in Santa Clara County has been underreported for the last few weeks.”

County officials said said it has been told that the state has begun providing the backlogged data, and added that “we have been expecting a large number of cases to be reported ... over the next few days.”

Based on data received from the state over the weekend, the county reported 751 new cases Monday, which reportedly includes positive test results from as far back as July 8.

The updated county dashboard today reported 12,694 total Covid-19 cases as of Monday, Aug. 10, with 25 new fatalities, for a total of 177 deaths since the outbreak began.

“We are currently analyzing the newly-received data, any remaining gaps, and what it tells us about the course of the pandemic in our county,” the county statement said.

California’s top public health officer resigned over the weekend following data-collection failures that led to an undercount of coronavirus cases as the state was reporting a downward trend in Covid-19 infections, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.

Dr. Sonia Angell offered in a letter to step down as the director of the Department of Public Health and “I accepted her resignation,” Newsom told reporters at a presser.

Calling it a “personnel” issue, Newsom declined to say directly whether the departure of Angell less than a year into her tenure was related to computer problems that caused nearly 300,000 Covid-19 test results to go temporarily unprocessed.

Angell notified department staff of her resignation in an internal email on Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The dual roles Angell had filled as director of the Public Health Department and as the state’s chief public health officer will now be shared by two immediate successors.

California Health Care Foundation Executive Sandra Shewry was named acting public health department head, while Dr. Erica Pan, the public health officer for Alameda County, was appointed acting statewide health officer.

Johnson Hopkins University Covid-19 Resource Center reported today that California had 10,481 deaths through Monday. The state’s Covid-19 website reported 10,359 fatalities through the end of this past weekend.

5 Comments

  1. In a world where 99.8% of people who test positive for COVID may have marginal relevance to crafting policy, it is by no means a material or important data point. What is material and important is the number of deaths, and even more important the age of each deceased person and whether or not each person had underlying medical conditions. Czarina Cody chooses not to report that important data to the public, because if she did there would be wholesale revolt against her draconian policies and edicts. The state of Oregon has a population of 4.3million and 362 deaths as of 8/11/20. SCC has a population of 1.9 million and 206 deaths as of 8/11/20. Oregon reports daily cases, deaths, age at death, and whether the deceased had underlying condition. Is California using DMV’s computers and software to report COVID data? Turns out that around 70% of Oregon deaths had an underlying condition and/ or were over 60hears old. Czarina Cody’s reports don’t tell us that. Oregon has among the loosest COVID restrictions in the nation. Masks weren’t mandated until a few weeks ago. Restaurants have been open, inside and out, for several weeks. If Czarina Cody’s draconian restrictions were actually effective, SCC deaths should be no more than 25% of Oregon deaths, that is, no more than 90. Her restrictions don’t work. Her data is incomplete, and yet we are still prisoners in our homes. Cody’s record is worse than Fauci’s predictions. They both should resign and go quietly into oblivion.

  2. > What is material and important is the number of deaths, and even more important the age of each deceased person and whether or not each person had underlying medical conditions.

    And, people tell me, that testing living and deceased COVID-19 patients for levels of vitamin D would very well reveal something that the pharmaceutical companies and coronavirus lobbies would rather not be known.

  3. — “Revelations that computer problems led to the underreporting of more than 300,000 test results in California last month led to the resignation of the state’s top health official and ballooned the number of reported cases across the state…”

    When the lockdown first began we were told what was critically important was COVID hospitalizations, specifically those requiring intensive care. The number of positive test results mattered only in that it provided the ratio between infection and the need for intensive care. But now, in the wake of the hospital crisis that never materialized, the focus of the politically-inspired, manufactured frenzy has become test results. Clearly, our health officials are unmotivated to gauge the real state of the pandemic by our hospital systems proven ability to meet the need (which is modest).

    Imagine if instead of fretting about COVID test results the government and the media were panicked over a report that ten million defective condoms had been sold in California. How many months would it take, with hospitals and clinics reporting only a modest increase in pregnancies, for them to conclude that the defects in the condoms had never been serious enough to justify Gavin Newsom screwing the entire state, and recommend the frustrated masses be freed to get back to screwing each other?

  4. Not odd to me.

    If not CA’s public health director, then who is responsible? At the very least I would expect an executive to assess validity when the stakes are this high. Was anyone conducting audits or confidence studies to authenticate the reported case count? Grossly irresponsible if not.

    Likewise, appears that Dr. Cody is also negligent since SCC’s numbers jumped.

    Can *any* SCC PHD published data be trusted if prudent, scientific processes aren’t followed? GIGO – garbage in, gospel out. That’s my major concern.

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