© 2025 WKSU
Public Radio News for Northeast Ohio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ohio's daily COVID case numbers are wrong again

 COVID dashboard for January 25, 2022
Ohio Dept. of Health
/
Ohio Dept. of Health
The case numbers on the COVID dashboard for Tuesday are incorrect. The Ohio Department of Health says the error is a result of invalid data.

The state’s COVID dashboard shows fewer than 5,000 positive COVID cases in Ohio Tuesday. The Ohio Department of Health says those numbers are an undercount. But those numbers have been incorrect before.

The counts were also off after the holidays, in the days following Christmas and New Year's celebrations, when the virus appeared to be causing record high case numbers. Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said last week it’s hard to keep up with so many cases being reported, but he said the Department of Health had made changes to accommodate the rapid influx of high case counts.

“What we did was work very aggressively to augment those systems and do some rapid, both human and technological efforts, in new ways," Vanderhoff said.

 Explanation from ODH about underreported case numbers on Jan. 25, 2022
Ohio Dept. of Health
/
Ohio Dept. of Health
Explanation from ODH about underreported case numbers Tuesday

ODH says this time, invalid data was received because of an electronic lab processing error and no lab results had been processed since 5 p.m. Monday. Case counts have always been thought to be underreported anyway because many positive rapid home tests are not reported and counted in the totals.
Copyright 2022 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.