Santa Clara County health leaders are looking to get COVID-19 data back on track following a critical failure in State systems last week.
A pair of issues with the State’s reporting system for testing and cases led to major underreporting. Known as CalREDIE, the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange coordinates data between test sites, providers, hospitals, health officials, and state leaders.
The faltering processes forced officials at the state and local level to publicly reconsider if the recent drop in new cases was actually happening. Hospitalizations levels have decreased from peaks in late July, data which was not caught in the backlog.
California’s Public Health Director Sonia Angell resigned suddenly late Sunday amid the blowback.
The resulting backlog has left leaders questioning data accuracy, leaving them lost on moving forward with any reopening measures.
“Back to feeling blind,” Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said last week.
According to county officials, the state is still working through backlogged data and ensuring accuracy. The underreporting led to a slew of new cases – 751 – being reported in Santa Clara County Monday. Those results go back as far as July 8, apparently, though most are from recent weeks.
On Tuesday, the county reported 280 new cases bringing Santa Clara County to just short of 13,000 cumulatively. Two more deaths reported Tuesday brought the county to 207 since the pandemic began.