COVID-19 data update decreases Wright County’s 14-day positivity rate

This week, the State of Iowa addressed a COVID-19 data reporting issue and implemented a change to resolve it, resulting in a decrease in the 14-day average positivity rate for Wright County.  

The issue occurred due to limitations within the Department of Public Health’s reporting system. New test results for individuals who had tested previously had been unintentionally assigned to the date of their first test. Case reporting has now been adjusted to reflect the most recent lab reporting date, rather than the date of the first test result.  

Adjusting these dates pushed some negative and positive test results forward in time, resulting in some changes to 14-day positivity rates by county.

• Wright County’s positivity rate dropped from 18% to 9%
• Nearly 80% of counties had a net decrease in their current 14-day positivity rate.
• The remaining counties had on average an increase of less than 1% in their current 14-day positivity rate.

Wright County’s 14-day average had been a concern for public health officials, as an average over 20% starts to have ramifications for districts conducting school in-person.

 Going forward, individual positive and negative cases will be assigned to their lab collection date rather than the lab result date. This will give the most accurate reporting of the earliest date possible that an individual was positive for the virus. All new cases reported during each 24 hour period will continue to be reported daily at coronavirus.iowa.gov.

 “Wright County remains committed to surveillance testing and those potentially exposed to COVD-19.” said Karl Helgevold, Board of Supervisors.   “Extensive contact tracing throughout the county remains a priority for our Wright County COVID-19 team and partners and have received and responded to all positive cases.” said Mickey Cooper, Board of Health.