Percentage of positive COVID-19 cases in Washington to jump after data error discovered
Washington state has been reporting an incorrect percentage of positive COVID-19 case results since April 21 due to a data error, the state said Wednesday afternoon.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, the Washington State Department of Health was reporting a 5.5 percent positive rate on the 480,026 tests conducted in the state since testing began for the coronavirus pandemic. The number was still being reported on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard as of Wednesday at 3 p.m.
The actual percentage rate is 6.2 percent, the state said. That number was to be updated sometime Wednesday.
Until Wednesday, the state has maintained that the positive and negative rates reflected only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. On Wednesday, the state said it had been mistakenly including negative antibody test results as well.
That led to an inflation of negative results and a resulting deflation of positive results.
“These negative test numbers, while inflated, have not impacted decision-making as it pertains to counties advancing through phases,” the state said in a statement.
The PCR tests, sometimes called molecular tests, are given to patients while the virus is presumably still active in the body. The antibody tests can detect if a person had been exposed to the virus sometime in the past.
Overall positive case totals the state has been reporting have been correct, it said.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
