WA state catching up on 5 months of COVID test data from lab

KIRO-7 noticed the state was reporting high case numbers this week while at the same time announcing cases were dropping. The state says it is fixing a problem that went on for five months, and that accounts for the high daily case numbers this week.

The Washington State Department of Health discovered it had missed five months of COVID test data from a lab. The mistake appears to be a combination of computer error and human error, according to the Department.

“What we discovered is there was a laboratory that was submitting to us starting in December, due to a miscommunication those data were not actually getting processed in our system, " said Juliana Grant, an epidemiologist at the Washington State Department of Health. “Our systems were handling the data a certain way and putting it someplace, making it look like it was being processed, but it wasn’t, and humans on both sides didn’t catch this.”

Now the state is playing catch up with 22,000 COVID tests. The state says 3,500 of the tests are positive, and while the lab or doctor’s office likely told the patient the result, the state didn’t know to follow up with education or contact tracing.

The missing data are mostly from King, Pierce and Spokane counties and date back to December.

KIRO-7 asked if they could have impacted reopening metrics.

“We always work with the best data we have available at the time, and surveillance data are not static,” explained Grant.

These cases will be added onto the state’s epidemiologic curve back on the date the test was processed.

“The rate of cases that we have now is about the same as our peak last summer, but it’s definitely going down, and that is the most critical thing,” said Grant.

This Memorial Day weekend she urges people to get vaccinated, wear their masks when appropriate, socially distance and wash their hands. She said vaccination is our way out of the pandemic.

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