Statewide technical issue causing delay in Santa Cruz County COVID-19 reporting

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION) A technical glitch in California COVID-19 reporting is leading to what health officials are calling an inaccurate picture of new cases over the last week.

In Santa Cruz County, Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said there are likely at least 100 additional cases that have not been reported over the past 7 to 10 days in the county, and the glitch with electronic reporting is likely why cases seemed to be trending downward across the state earlier this week.

The issue apparently stems from software used to electronically report test results to local health departments. The resulting delay means that positive residents are not getting results in a timely fashion, which can lead to more spread.

Newel said the glitch and other problems with testing delays result from a lack of funding for public health.

“This is indicative of the chronic under-funding of public health in our country, state and locally, and I hope this in the midst of a pandemic prompts some thoughtfulness about how we might better prepare for the long term with public health sustainability,” Newel said.

Fewer tests are also being processed because some labs are running out of testing reagent, which are the chemicals used to run the tests.

Newel said the reporting glitch should only affect about 15% of reported cases because non-commercial labs- like UC Santa Cruz, OptumServe and the county health clinic- send results through fax or email.