Long-term Care Report (PDF) - 10/27/2020
Data Notes
November 2, 2020: Negative test results do not include today's updates due to a data processing issue. Today’s dashboard includes current information for total and newly confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. We anticipate being able to update all data by tomorrow (11/3/2020).
October 28, 2020: Data on hospitalizations and COVID-like illness hospitalizations will not be complete today due to an interruption in the data reporting processes. We anticipate complete reporting tomorrow.
October 25, 2020: COVID-like illness (CLI) hospitalizations are not complete due to a backlog in data processing. COVID case hospitalizations are not impacted by this backlog.
October 12, 2020: We were not able to update the DOH dashboard today. We have identified the data issues but it will take until tomorrow to fully test and implement required revisions. We expect to return to regular reporting on Tuesday, 10/13/2020. Data are current as of 11:59 p.m. on 10/9/2020. We were also unable to process the weekly file available for download and will provide the updated file once we implement the required revisions.
October 5, 2020: The total number of hospitalizations reported for 10/5/20 is lower by six cases than what was reported yesterday. Hospitalization totals include preliminary hospitalization data from automated data sources that are prone to data connection/linkage issues. In some cases, detailed review of available information may lead a local health jurisdiction to re-classify a case as not hospitalized or hospitalized for a reason other than COVID-19. Hospitalizations data should not be considered complete until after the 18-day lag period. In addition, data on hospitalizations is not be complete today due to an interruption in the data system linkage last night. We anticipate new data tomorrow.
October 3, 2020: Routine daily reconciliation of the data resulted in a decrease in 1 death today. New deaths are not reported on the weekends, and will be reported on Monday.
Technical Notes
Time delays and lags
Minor time delays in the collection of laboratory testing data, confirming cases, hospitalizations, and deaths occur regularly due to processing and reporting variation between data sources. This variation is due to differences in individual actions, laboratory capacities, and case confirmation and reporting processes.
After analyzing time lags between steps, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) increased the period of incomplete reporting for most metrics to 10 days to ensure that 90% of data are accounted for in our posted numbers. For each metric shown on a time trend, the incomplete data period is shown in light gray. We provide a Learn More link with more detail on the period of incomplete data.
Number of infections
Public health experts agree that the true number of people who have been infected with COVID-19 in Washington greatly exceeds those that have been laboratory-confirmed. It is very difficult to know exactly how many people in Washington have been infected to date, since most people with COVID-19 experience mild illness and testing is still not widely available.
Cases
Effective June 16, 2020, Washington State Department of Health (DOH) uses the date of an individual’s first positive lab result as the case date. Previously, the date a case was reported to DOH was used as the case date. Our current approach provides a more accurate designation of case confirmation dates while shifting less than 10% of case counts by date, most noticeably for cumulative case counts and graphics.
Testing
Two important data issues continue to affect results presented on the testing tab: 1) the delayed entry of negative lab results into our data system; and 2) the lack of an assigned county for about 21% of negative test results. These issues impact some counties disproportionately. Washington State Department of Health (DOH) continues to work on a sustainable solution.
Effective August 25, 2020, DOH changed the methodology for reporting test results. The total number of tests are now reported instead of the total number of individuals tested. New positive and negative test counts include all molecular tests (by specimen collection date) of individuals who have not previously tested positive. Multiple test results from the same day are counted only once and we exclude repeat tests on an individual after the first positive result. This methodology has been applied to the entire dashboard timeframe. The changes in our testing methodology did not affect dashboard testing trends.
Deaths
Deaths are reported to the state by health care providers, medical examiners/coroners, local health departments, and others. For this reason, the statewide count of deaths often lags behind the counts of local health departments.
Effective August 28, 2020, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) stopped publishing COVID-19 death counts on weekends. COVID-19 death counts are published Monday through Friday. DOH adds the counts collected on weekends to the following Monday and Tuesday reports.