State Department of Health corrects reports

OLYMPIA – The state Department of Health announced changes in reporting of COVID-19 deaths and negative test results.

According to a DOH release, when a death has been reported as a COVID-19 death, it is because the person who passed away also tested positive for COVID-19, even if COVID-19 was not the cause of the death. Beginning June 17, DOH will remove deaths from then count where COVID-19 did not contribute to the death.

For Phase 1, this will result in seven deaths being removed from the state's death count, including two suicides, three homicides and two overdose deaths.

Over the next several weeks, DOH will expand its reporting to identify whether they can confirm or rule-out COVID-19 as a contributing cause of death, or if COVID-19 probably or may have contributed to death.

"Our goal from the beginning of the outbreak was to get data out in near real-time so that health care providers, policy makers and public health professionals had access to the most current information. Our normal process for releasing final death data is complex, involves multiple data systems, and can take up to 18 months from start to finish," stated a DOH release.

DOH also corrected an error in reporting of negative test results. Previously, negative antibody tests were being included in the count of negative molecular COVID-19 which determine whether a person is currently infected or not.

Antibody tests reveal whether the person has developed antibodies from a previous infection. The error affects numbers reported since April 21 and inflated the number of negative test results by 13 percent.

Correction of the error increased the positive precent of overall tests from 5.5 percent to 6.2 percent statewide as of June 15. DOH has corrected the error and says no decisions were made based on these incorrect numbers.

Whitman County on June 19 had 32 reported positive cases with no hospitalizations or deaths. Twenty of those case have recovered and the rest are stable and isolated at home.