Coronavirus cases rise, but NC corrects reporting error that inflated one day’s total
State officials revised the number of COVID-19 cases in North Carolina on Sunday morning to account for a reporting error involving Vidant Health.
An email announcement from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services said every test received from Vidant Health was counted as positive for Saturday’s update. The mistake inflated the total number of cases by 81.
The announcement corrected Saturday’s total to 8,542.
“Vidant has worked with NCDHHS to update the data,” the statement from DHHS said.
Even with the adjustment, Saturday’s daily increase of 490 COVID-19 cases remained the largest single-day number of new cases the state has recorded since the pandemic began in March. The state reported 444 new cases on Friday.
DHHS released its regular daily update on Sunday, showing a smaller number of new cases, 288, for a total of 8,830 cases with 299 deaths.
Problem with test results
The dominant health-care provider in Eastern North Carolina, Vidant operates nine hospitals throughout the region, including its flagship Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.
The test results were reported electronically, according to the DHHS.
“Vidant Health is working to correct the transmission problem,” the statement from DHHS said.
More tests being done
The increases come as the state is reporting a greater number of completed tests in recent days. DHHS reports 107,894 tests for the virus.
The state reported 10 new coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday, bringing the total to 299 since the pandemic was declared last month.
The state reports 451 people are hospitalized.
The News & Observer is keeping a separate count based on reports from DHHS and county health departments, which tends to be higher because the state updates its numbers once a day. As of Sunday morning, that tally stood at 8,946 cases and 314 deaths.
This story was originally published April 26, 2020 at 10:27 AM.