Health officials in states across the country have been improperly reporting so-called "new" Wuhan coronavirus cases. This came to a head in Texas this week as officials removed "positive" cases from their count after it was determined they were never confirmed.
The State of Texas today had to remove 3,484 cases from its Covid-19 positive case count, because the San Antonio Health Department was reporting “probable” cases for people never actually tested, as “confirmed” positive cases.- TDHS
— Steve Eagar (@steveeagar) July 16, 2020
What other departments make this same mistake? pic.twitter.com/wYhGWhHl5w
Here is more information from the state on the nearly 35-hundred San Antonio “probable” cases removed from Texas’ “positive” case count from the state. Although the CDC is mentioned, a positive Antigen test is also considered a “probable” case in guidelines adopted by @TexasDSHS pic.twitter.com/qWMFpuD8XK
— Steve Eagar (@steveeagar) July 16, 2020
Here is more information from the state on the nearly 35-hundred San Antonio “probable” cases removed from Texas’ “positive” case count from the state. Although the CDC is mentioned, a positive Antigen test is also considered a “probable” case in guidelines adopted by @TexasDSHS pic.twitter.com/pRR70GmKVF
— Steve Eagar (@steveeagar) July 16, 2020
"Texas Department of State Health Services admits case totals received from San Antonio’s regional health district included thousands of unconfirmed “probable” cases." https://t.co/XZ8G07dBDI
— AssocAmerPhys&Surg (@AAPSonline) July 16, 2020
In Florida:
After FOX 35 News noticed errors in the state's report on positivity rates, the Florida Department of Health said that some laboratories have not been reporting negative test result data to the state.
Countless labs have reported a 100 percent positivity rate, which means every single person tested was positive. Other labs had very high positivity rates. FOX 35 News found that testing sites like one local Centra Care reported that 83 people were tested and all tested positive. Then, NCF Diagnostics in Alachua reported 88 percent of tests were positive.
How could that be? FOX 35 News investigated these astronomical numbers, contacting every local location mentioned in the report.
The report showed that Orlando Health had a 98 percent positivity rate. However, when FOX 35 News contacted the hospital, they confirmed errors in the report. Orlando Health's positivity rate is only 9.4 percent, not 98 percent as in the report.
Apparently, in Texas at least, the reporting is a mandate from the CDC. From an April USA Today report:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told states Tuesday to include probable COVID-19 cases in their reports to the agency. Previously, most states reported only lab-confirmed cases and deaths.
Earlier this month, the council revised its COVID-19 definition to include illnesses that don't have positive test results but in which the evidence points to the disease. The council made the change in part because of growing evidence that some infected people don't exhibit symptoms and may not have been tested.
The bottom line:
BREAKING: Health officials from numerojs states have mistakenly included positive results from antibody tests when reporting new COVID-19 cases to the CDC, grossly inflating new cases. The scientific equivalent to “double dipping.”
— Nicole Saphier, MD (@NBSaphierMD) July 17, 2020
Testing is now widely available so probable cases should absolutely NOT be included in our reported infection and death counts. Similarly, we must be reporting negative test results. Both of these factors are essential for an accurate representation of the COVID19 fatality rate.
— Nicole Saphier, MD (@NBSaphierMD) July 16, 2020