Collin County health officials say they have "no confidence" in the state's COVID-19 cases following a dump of backlogged positive coronavirus cases across the state due to coding issues and a system upgrade.
Collin County has been relying on daily updates on their COVID-19 data dashboard from the Department of State Health Services.
The dashboard says this as of Tuesday: "Warning: Collin County is providing COVID-19 numbers and data as a convenience to our residents. However, because we have been made aware of inaccuracies in the Department of State Health Services’ reporting, we must advise residents that Collin County has no confidence in the data currently being provided to us."
A computer upgrade at the Texas Department of State Health Services uncovered 350,000 tests that had previously been unreported to local counties and had not been included in the totals released to the public.
The state notified Dallas County of a total of 5,361 additional cases on Sunday. The county said 4,298 of those patients tested positive in July. The rest came from March, April, May and June.
According to Dallas County health officials, the patients had received their positive test results but the counties where those patients live had not been notified.
The state's seven-day rolling positivity rate was also affected through coding errors from two labs and a system upgrade. It caused an artificial 24.5% positivity rate. The rate dropped to 16% Thursday and Friday.
Dallas County reports 787 new cases, 10 additional deaths
On Tuesday, Dallas County health officials reported 10 additional deaths and 787 new coronavirus cases.
There have been 66,065 total cases and 839 deaths reported since tracking began in March.
The latest deaths were reported in people who had underlying health conditions, according to Dallas County officials.
The deaths include:
- A Balch Springs man in his 50s
- An Irving woman in her 60s
- A Dallas woman in her 60s
- A Dallas man in his 60s
- A Dallas woman in her 70s
- Two Dallas men in their 70s
- A Dallas man in his 80s
- A Grand Prairie man in his 80s
- A Dallas man in his 80s. He had been a resident of a long-term care facility.
Tarrant County reports 460 new cases, 3 new deaths
Tarrant County health officials reported 460 new cases and three new deaths.
The county has a total of 38,476 cases and 462 deaths since tracking began in March.
The county has the most cases in the age group from ages 25 to 44 at 38%.
The most fatalities have been in the 65 and older age group, according to the county.
Denton County reports 157 new cases, 8 new deaths
Denton County health officials reported 157 new cases and eight new deaths.
The county has 90 deaths and 8,584 confirmed cases since tracking began in March.
State reports more than 7,000 new cases
The state reported 7,282 new cases and 216 new deaths on Tuesday.
If Texas were a country, it would rank 6th in cases and 13th in fatalities.