COVID Data Discrepancy Causes Confusion, Concern In Livingston – Livingston, NJ Patch

LIVINGSTON, NJ — When it comes to deciding the town of origin for a coronavirus case, the process is far from cut-and-dry, Livingston officials say.

Cases are often reported — or misreported — depending on the deceased person’s place of employment or where the test was administered. Sometimes the person was temporarily confined for treatment. Other times, they might own a second home in another township.

And unsurprisingly, there are some speed bumps when it comes to reporting COVID-19 case totals, Livingston officials said.

One such instance took place Friday, when some residents became concerned about a reported uptick in local COVID-19 cases.

Livingston town officials issued the following statement about what they called a “discrepancy” in the data:

“A report issued on Aug. 21 suggested that there were 15 new COVID-19 cases in Livingston over the past 24 hours, understandably raising concerns among residents. To address those concerns, the township reports that there have only been seven confirmed positive cases in the entire month of August as reported to the Livingston Health Department.”

Livingston officials continued:

“Media outlets have access to and report COVID cases, at least in part, using reports issued daily by Essex County, which in turn reports cases based on a statewide database. That database is not an ‘up to the minute’ report of diagnosed cases in real time, particularly with respect to the residency of each case. Cases are often reported — or misreported — based on place of employment, where the test was administered, place of temporary confinement for treatment, or other location outside of the affected individual’s municipality of residence. In addition, cases are often entered into the database after the actual date of the confirmed test. With subsequent research, follow-up, and additional information, the database is then revised on an ongoing basis, including cases being added or subtracted from days (or even weeks) prior. In some instances, deductions make it appear as though Livingston ‘lost’ cases. These corrections result in day-to-day fluctuations in the case counts that are not representative of actual new cases in that 24-hour period.”

Data from a local level is more reliable when it comes to tracking day-to-day changes, Livingston officials said.

“The Livingston Health Department receives notification of positive test results for Livingston residents and assumes responsibility for follow-up, contact tracing, etc. for those cases,” officials stated. “That local database more accurately reflects the actual change in cases during any 24 hours or other period of time. As noted above, there have only been seven total new positive cases confirmed in Livingston in August as reported to the Livingston Health Department.”

Livingston officials said they have plans to start releasing “actual, confirmed Livingston cases in real time” to head off confusion that can result from fluctuating county/state database reports.

Updates will be available on the Livingston Township website, officials said.

Friday’s announcement isn’t the only time that Livingston municipal officials have tried to give additional context to coronavirus statistics from a local perspective.