Texas officials alter the way COVID-19 deaths are collected and reported
Texas health department officials have altered the way they report COVID-19 deaths in an effort to speed up lag time in the crucial data.
The Texas Department of State Health Services says it began identifying coronavirus fatalities through the cause of death listed on death certificates on Monday.
“This method allows fatalities to be counted faster with more comprehensive demographic data,” DSHS said in a release. “Using death certificates also ensures consistent reporting across the state and enables DSHS to display fatalities by date of death, providing the public with more information about when deaths occurred.”
A coronavirus-related death is confirmed when the medical certifier — usually a doctor with direct knowledge of the patient, according to DSHS — determines COVID-19 directly caused the death.
This method does not include deaths of people who had COVID-19 but died of an unrelated cause, DSHS said. Death certificates are required by law to be filed within 10 days.
State officials previously counted COVID-19 deaths after they were reported “publicly by local and regional health departments after they received a notification and verified the death.”
“The length of time that process takes varies by jurisdiction and does not provide timely demographic information on most fatalities,” DSHS said.
Using the new collection method, 44 new COVID-19 deaths were reported Monday, increasing the total to 5,713 confirmed coronavirus deaths statewide.
In comparison, the state reported a total of 5,038 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday using the old data collection method.
Estimated active cases over time
Coronavirus daily active case estimates by local counties in the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex, beginning April 8, 2020. Data provided by Texas Health and Human Services.
