State Admits Problems with Covid-19 Report System

The Kern County Public Health Department admits the State Health Department’s technical issue is causing a lagThis lag is directly impacting Covid-19 reporting

Statement from Kern Public Health

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (August 5, 2020) There is currently a technical issue with the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) electronic disease reporting system. The California Reportable Disease Information Exchange (CalREDIE) is experiencing delays.

Electronic laboratory reporting is not being submitted to CalREDIE’s system in a real-time manner. Therefore the State has not completely reported all of Kern County’s cases.

“It remains critical that residents continue to practice healthy habits that include physical distancing, hand-washing and wearing face coverings when in public,” says Matt Constantine, Director of Kern County Public Health Services Department. “We must use all the preventative measures available to combat this disease.”

CDPH informed public health departments of the technical issues in an e-mail on Friday (Aug. 1). Yesterday, CDPH stated they are committed to resolving the issue as quickly as possible and has “urgently escalated this issue to leadership.”

The delay impacts how public health workers can identify cases for investigation, contact tracing and, ultimately, controlling the disease. The county’s testing positivity rate and case rate is also impacted by the delay.

Hospitalization and death rates are not impacted as they are reported directly to the county through different systems. A total of 152 Kern County residents have succumbed to COVID-19 and roughly 258 COVID patients are currently being cared for in Kern County hospitals. More than 21,433 Kern County residents have tested positive for the virus.

“We’re hopeful this technical issue will be resolved quickly so we can continue our fight to protect our county residents,” Constantine said.

Residents who have recently tested positive for COVID-19 are encouraged to visit kernpublichealth.com and go to the COVID-19 webpage to complete a self-reporting form.