The Oklahoma State Department of Health announced recently there have been delays in the processing and reporting of COVID-19 test results. It laid the blame on outdated data systems that may rely on results being faxed to its offices and manually entered into the system. The department called the flow of data between health departments, clinics and laboratories ‘inconsistent.’
“We have needed a technical solution since well before the pandemic,” said Deputy Commissioner of Prevention and Preparedness Travis Kirkpatrick. “The backlog we’ve experienced as the state has increased its testing capability has given us the opportunity to incorporate immediate fixes while moving towards developing a permanent solution.”
As a result, the case information for July 20 was low and did not reflect real time data.
As of July 21, there are 27,147 confirmed cases in Oklahoma, up 894 from the day previous. There are 613 current hospitalizations and 461 deaths, up nine, with one in the past 24 hours.
In Blaine County there are 22 confirmed cases, no deaths and 17 recoveries.
There are five active cases, one each in Canton, Geary, Longdale and two in Watonga.
The health department has established contracts with in-state laboratories that require a mandatory turnaround time of 48 to 72 hours from receipt of a COVID-19 testing specimen. Currently, approximately 25% of the state’s COVID-19 testing occurs at county health department testing sites. However, tests done at urgent care clinics, health care offices, retailers and pharmacies may be tested out of state, which may result in delays of faxed results. Those results are manually entered into OSDH systems, resulting in lost time and delays in data reporting and contact tracing.
To solve these issues surrounding the efficient processing and reporting of test results, OSDH has programmed CARES Act funding at the direction of interim Commissioner Lance Frye.
“OSDH is highly focused on COVID-19 testing, effectively tracing cases and ensuring those individuals who test positive are quarantined as quickly as possible before they spread the virus to others,” said interim Commissioner Lance Frye.
The OSDH is currently testing, on average, 2,000 people per day across the state.
Connie Burcham can be reached at Editor@WatongaRepublican.com