Iowa nurse uncovers error on state coronavirus database that lowered case tally
A nurse practitioner in Iowa City, Iowa, uncovered a glitch in the state's coronavirus website that has caused the site to mistakenly report lower numbers of new COVID-19 cases and, by extension, a lower statewide infection rate, resulting in state agencies making decisions based on inaccurate numbers.
The Associated Press reported Monday that Dana Jones, the nurse who uncovered the problem, was contacted by the Iowa Department of Public Health in an email confirming the validity of her discovery and noting that the agency is working to fix the problem. The inaccurate data, however, was not reported or announced publicly until Jones spoke with the AP.
"It's one of the worst data errors that could be happening right now," Megan Srinivas, an infectious disease specialist from Fort Dodge, Iowa, told the AP of the uncovered errors. "We are making these policy calls based on completely flawed numbers and that needs to be acknowledged."
"There are a lot of small things like this that are adding up to huge things, where we are massively underestimating the cases in the state," added Eli Perencevich, an infectious disease researcher with the University of Iowa, in an interview with the AP. "Both of those should be announced and corrected and cleared up immediately."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/iowa-nurse-uncovers-error-on-state-coronavirus-database-that-lowered-case-tally/ar-BB184uob?li=BBnb7Kz
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