Statewide backlog reports add more than 5,000 coronavirus cases in Dallas County

Updated at 4pm: Edited to include additional details about the backlog of cases.

Dallas County reported more than 5,000 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, saying a backlog of thousands of cases was received Saturday because of problems with the state’s reporting system.

Of the 5,361 new cases reported Sunday, 5,195 came from behind, according to a news release from Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

The majority of those cases – 4,298 of them – were from tests conducted in July. Thirteen were from tests conducted in March, 149 were from April, 80 were from May, 52 were from June and 603 were from August, according to data released by the province.

The latest confirmed cases bring the total count to 63,428 in Dallas County. The province also reported 2,515 probable cases, including seven probable deaths from COVID-19. Dallas County reports no return.

One new death was reported Sunday, bringing the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 825. The last victim was a Dallas man in his 50s with underlying health conditions who was critically ill in a hospital.

Jenkins said he expects to see more batches of cases missing from the state’s reporting system in the coming days. Because of the errors, none of the 5,195 cases from behind were disclosed to the Dallas County Public Health Team, so no trace was made on those cases, Jenkins said.

“Therefore, it is also important when you know that your COVID-19 is positive to inform all those with whom you have close contact so that they can isolate themselves,” the county judge said in a prepared statement.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement on its coronavirus dashboard Sunday that several commercial labs are submitting backlog of test results to the department this week, so statewide case counts and some counties for counties will cover older cases over the next few days.

If the backlog of cases is added to the state system, some counties will be notified of positive results that were not previously reported to local health departments. Patients were informed of their results when they were diagnosed, the department said.

The state’s data collection system for tracking cases of infectious diseases was originally designed to take only positive test results, said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Department of State Health Services. That amounts to about 1,200 data points a day, she said.

When coronavirus struck, the amount of data shoved through the system was much higher. In July, the state’s data collection system was overwhelmed because so many test results came in, Anton said. On August 1, the system was upgraded.

But there were glitches. Some data needed to be reformatted. Then, said Anton, one of the commercial labs sent in data that was not formatted correctly. The state has fixed that problem, she said.

A hospital lab also sent in data that was incorrectly coded, she said.

Other counties in North Texas, including Tarrant and Collin, have reported large numbers of new cases, citing the same backlog.

Jenkins said the Texas Department of State Health Services said the backlog is beginning to be resolved through a system upgrade to the state’s reporting system.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 8 deaths and 688 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, citing that about half of the newly reported cases were due to a backlog in state data.

Officials said there were 348 cases of tests performed more than 30 days ago.

The new numbers bring the total of the province to 37,760 cases, as 18 out of every 1,000 inhabitants, and 459 dead.

Recent deaths include three Fort Worth women, two in their 90s and one in their 80s; four Fort Worth men, one in the 90s, two in the 80s and one in his 70s; and a man from North Richland Hills in his 60s.

All had underlying health conditions, the province reported.

Other counties

The Texas Department of State Health Services has taken over reporting for other North Texas counties. The latest figures are:

• Rockwall County: 1,079 cases, 18 deaths
• Kaufman County: 2,446 cases, 30 deaths
• Ellis County: 3,255 cases, 50 deaths
• Johnson County: 2,159 cases, 33 deaths

Staff Writer Sue Ambrose contributed to this report.

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