Temporary laboratory reporting delays affect COVID-19 case numbers
Large Gatherings Continue to Spread Virus HONOLULU – The daily reporting of positive COVID-19 cases in Hawaii has been temporarily affected by missing data on Saturday and again today from Clinical Laboratories of Hawai‘i, a major private laboratory conducting most of tests in the state. From the test results that are available today, the Department of Health is reporting 45 additional cases of coronavirus. This is the second day, new case numbers dropped from triple digits to double digits, but this is not a complete and accurate picture due to the temporary delay in receiving complete data. State Epidemiologist [...]
Encouraging coronavirus case numbers partly a result of testing lag
HONOLULU - The Hawai‘i Department of Health is reporting today, 87 new positive COVID-19 cases diagnosed on O‘ahu for a cumulative total of 2,197 cases in the state, reported since March. While this number is encouraging and lower than previous days, it also reflects a significant lag in the testing results. With many test specimens now being sent to mainland labs for processing, reporting of test results is delayed 5-7 days. This delay may make case numbers appear lower than actual disease activity. “Many of the cases reported recently are associated with social gatherings,” said Health Director Bruce Anderson. This month, multiple cases [...]