Increasing viral data headaches in California

Incomplete data in the most populous states in the United States impede public health officials’ ability to follow up on people testing for positivity and contact those around them to limit infection.

“I would say I felt blind when I returned in February and March when there weren’t enough tests,” said Dr. Sara Cody, director of public health in Santa Clara County. “I think we’re back blind now. I don’t know how the fashion goes.”

In Los Angeles County, home to a quarter of the state’s 40 million people, public health officials contact laboratories to obtain state-independent test data directly. Barbara Ferrer, County Health Director, said he hopes to update case numbers by the end of the week.

The CalREDIE system collects data from laboratories around California. The state uses data such as infection rates to determine which counties are on the watch list. The county must be off the list for 14 days so that it can resume certain businesses and provide elementary school instruction in the classroom. The list has 38 counties, including Los Angeles and all other major counties.

In its statement, the Department of Public Health is working to “assess the impact of data problems on disease transmission indicators”, so move to and from the list “until further notice”. He said he would never.

The problem seems to be progressing in California as the epidemic surges, and last month Governor Gavin Newtham closed bar and indoor restaurant dining across the state, closing most school campuses in the state. On Wednesday, the state reported only about 5,300 new virus cases, far from the nearly 13,000 peaks reported about two weeks ago.

Last week when data problems became apparent, state infection rates fell sharply as a precursor to how much hospitalization is likely to increase. It was 5.5% on Wednesday, but it’s unclear if the decline is apparent when additional data is added.

On the other hand, data on hospitalization shows improvement. The collection method was different, decreasing by more than 12% in the last two weeks to 6,184 patients.

County health officials say it’s hard to know where the virus is going without knowing how many cases are missing.

Dr. Cameron Kaiser, a public health official in Riverside County, said the county’s viral infection rate has been frozen to a level too high for elementary schools to seek exemptions to reopen classrooms. Kaiser told school officials in a letter that the state would not accept the waiver until the county had a credible case rate and was below the level required by the state. Riverside’s current rate is 202.

Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at the University of California at San Francisco, does not rely on state tracking or tracking in San Francisco because public health officials receive test reports directly from the lab. But long delays can do contact tracking — considered an important tool in preventing the spread of illness — in vain, he said.

“From a disease management perspective, the longer a person walks around without being quarantined and infected, the more people will be exposed,” he said.

In Los Angeles County, anyone who tests positive can contact the county’s health authorities and conduct a follow-up contact interview to identify those who may have been exposed to prevent others from being infected. I did it.

“We are really worried about losing some cases, and the fact that it may actually bring some small increases over the next few weeks,” she said.

Associated Press writer Olga Rodriguez of San Francisco and Adam Beam of Sacramento contributed to the report.

Copyright 2020 Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.