Recent News

For Immediate Release:
October 14, 2020

Media Contact:
Lisa Cox
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Lisa.Cox@health.mo.gov

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has completed the task of resolving a data extract issue in the reporting of COVID-19 cases, tests and deaths. An error in how data was being exported caused inaccurate reporting on Saturday, Oct. 10.

A malfunction occurred in the automated system, which resulted in an incorrect inflation of the number of reported cases going back over several days, suggesting that 5,020 cases had been added in 24 hours. This number actually reflected an increase in cases over multiple days leading up to Oct. 10, not a one-day increase. 

This issue was exacerbated by the fact that files in daily use now consist of more than 2.2 million records. Since Saturday, DHSS has taken steps to resolve this export error, recognizing that the records and complexity will continue to increase.

DHSS continues to encourage individuals to follow the past 7-day trends for all data sets. From Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 9,166 cases were reported, for an average of 1,309 per day. From Oct. 7-13, 9,908 cases were reported, for an average of 1,415 per day. 

The updated number of total reported cases increased by the following each day:

• Oct. 10  +1,381
• Oct. 11  +1,235
• Oct. 12  +988
• Oct. 13  +1,338

When cases are reported to DHSS, they are added to the total count on the dashboard the following day. Then each case is assigned to a date based on the day the patient was tested. 

Adjustments in data are still to be expected over time given that data quality assurance is an ongoing effort in order to provide the most accurate data as the number and types of tests continue to expand.  

“We are thankful that at this point, in an unprecedented fashion more than 2 million tests have been performed for a reportable infectious disease in Missouri,” said Dr. Randall Williams director of DHSS. “We remain committed to undergoing continuous quality improvement as we share the data from these tests as testing options and available technologies evolve.”

Missouri launched the new version of the Show Me Strong COVID-19 Public Health Dashboard on Sept. 28 to integrate pandemic response data across public health, economic, employment, and social impact indicators. This single point of access provides recovery information with greater detail and specificity across the various sectors, and also seeks to streamline data reporting.