SEATTLE — The number of coronavirus cases in Washington state may be higher than what is being reported by the Washington State Department of Health.
The department says it is experiencing "technical difficulties" with the disease reporting system used to track coronavirus cases.
As of 9 a.m. on April 1, the department's website said the data was last updated on March 28 at 11:59 p.m.
Outside a pandemic, the Washington Disease Reporting System is used to report positive results only. The tool is now tracking negative results for coronavirus, which is overwhelming the system.
The department is working to fix the issue, as well as alternatives such as a separate reporting tool for negative cases.
"DOH will share additional updates if this problem persists. We cannot provide an estimate for the next release of numbers, but are working diligently toward that goal," the department said in a statement.
While the Department of Health was still reporting 195 coronavirus deaths among at least 4,896 overall cases, other agencies were reporting much higher numbers.
Johns Hopkins University of Medicine was reporting 225 deaths out of a total of 5,482 cases as of 9 a.m. on April 1. Of those, King County had 2,330 cases and Snohomish County had 1,229 cases.
Because of the technical difficulties at the state level, Public Health – Seattle & King County said its data would not be updated on March 31. The latest numbers on King County's data dashboard, which were updated Monday afternoon, match Johns Hopkins.
Snohomish Health District was reporting 1,229 cases as of March 31 – the same as Johns Hopkins.
