Centre County saw a spike in COVID-19 cases Sunday. The numbers were wrong, officials say
A sudden spike in Centre County COVID-19 cases reported Sunday that alarmed many is not accurate, officials said Wednesday.
On Sunday, 43 new coronavirus cases were reported in Centre County, but “a number of the original test results are not valid,” Dr. Nirmal Joshi, chief medical officer at Mount Nittany Health, confirmed in an email. Previously, the highest single-day total in Centre County cases was 11 new positives.
“We use multiple commercial labs to conduct COVID-19 tests, and we closely monitor and review the results that are returned to us,” Joshi wrote. “When we received an unusually high number of positive results on Friday, we immediately alerted the Department of Health and implemented a plan to quickly retest these individuals over the weekend.”
DOH spokesperson Nate Wardle said health department officials are reviewing the tests and will change data as needed “in the near future.”
“These tests are being reviewed and data will be updated by the DOH,” Joshi wrote. “Patients are being contacted with their updated test results. Based on the volume of test results we have received to date, this was clearly an unusual pattern that prompted further follow up and investigation, and we appreciate the collaboration with the DOH.”
Neither the DOH nor Mount Nittany Health would comment on how many tests were recollected or deemed invalid.
As of Wednesday, no cases have been removed from Centre County’s overall case count. Since Sunday, 14 additional cases have been reported.
