After clarifying data error on COVID-19 deaths, Texas reports 322 deaths on Thursday
Texas health officials reported 322 coronavirus deaths on Thursday, seemingly a single-day record, but the state’s revised data collection method has included some reporting errors.
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced it discovered an error in its total for COVID-19 deaths this week. Officials attributed an “automation error” for an erroneous 225 deaths that were included, despite COVID-19 not being listed as the direct cause of death on the death certificate, the agency said.
Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for DSHS, said that most of the erroneous 225 deaths had been included in Monday’s revised death count. That affected the totals for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
For example, on Monday when the agency announced the change, it reported a cumulative 5,713 COVID-19 deaths. On Thursday, it listed the corrected total for that day as 5,489 — 224 fewer than its previous number.
A manual quality check revealed the error late Wednesday, officials reported.
With the fix, DSHS reported 322 new fatalities Thursday, but only 84 new deaths appear to technically be new to the revised totals.
The state also reported 8,800 new coronavirus cases, down 242 from Wednesday.
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.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 6:43 PM.
