El Condado De Sonoma Reorganiza Las Cifras De Coronavirus Para Que Concuerden Con Los Datos Estatales

Press release from the Sonoma County Government:

September 14, 2020

En español

Santa Rosa, CA - September 14, 2020 - According to information released by the State, the Sonoma County Department of Health Services today will change the methodology used to tabulate the number of COVID-19 tests performed, and also the rate of County testing positivity. Once implemented, these changes will result in the publication of new data on the County's COVID-19 dashboard . The new methodology, which will be applied retroactively, will show an overall increase in test volume, as well as an associated decrease in the test positivity rate in Sonoma County.

Consistency of these two metrics is vital because according to Governor Gavin Newsom's new "Plan for a Safer Economy" to Reduce COVID-19, they determine how soon counties can move from one level of openness to the next. For example, Sonoma County, which is currently at the most restrictive purple / purple level, would have to see its average daily rate of virus cases per 100,000 residents drop below 7. The County would also need to see that its overall positive test percentage drops to less than 8 percent. Based on new County data, which more closely aligns with the California Department of Public Health figures, the seven-day average case rate per 100,000 County residents is 11.2, while its average positivity rate in seven days is 5.3 percent. Based on the County's previous methodology, the numbers, as of last week, were 13 cases and 11.5 percent, respectively.

"This change should clear up the confusion about discrepancies between the State and County numbers, putting us in a better position to move forward," said Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase. “But it is important to note that these updates would not have led to any changes to previously made COVID-19 policy decisions regarding our County. It is the state numbers, not the local ones, that determined whether Sonoma County would go on the watch list and then where we would be classified under the governor's new four-tier plan. " She noted that multiple measures have influenced decisions made locally and that no metric guides the standards. In addition to assessing positivity, for example,

As with many counties in California, local Sonoma County COVID-19 statistics have varied from those reported by the California State Department of Public Health. County health officials have been working closely with the State to understand why the numbers differ. A breakthrough came when state officials recently gave Sonoma County an analysis code that had not previously been made available to local health jurisdictions.

With this new guide, it was discovered that previous file cleaning protocols were inadvertently not counting all the times a person performed multiple tests. This did not affect the County's ability to identify or trace contacts with individuals. However, she underestimated the number of tests performed per day.

With the inclusion of this information, Sonoma County metrics will now more closely align with reports from the California Department of Public Health.

The public can follow Sonoma County's progress in delaying the spread of the COVID-19 virus by visiting SoCoemergencia.org .

This press release was produced by the Sonoma County Government . The views expressed here are the author's own.