COVID-19 Test Increase Causes Reporting Delays for ADPH

There has been such an increase in test processing for the novel Coronavirus that reporting these tests has become a challenge for local and national health agencies.

The Alabama Department of Public Health shared a series of tweets explaining that due to the recent influx of tests, the agency will only be able to post updated information to its COVID-19 Information Dashboard once daily at 10 a.m.

The national surveillance pipeline has been flooded with test results from hospital labs, commercial labs, and state health department labs, causing significant delays for the program. The ADPH is working with the CDC to be able to obtain the information it needs on a more timely basis; however, in the meantime, confirmed COVID-19 case counts and death information will only be posted to the dashboard at 10 a.m. daily. The agency says it hopes to be able to post updates at both 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily in the near future.

The most recent data from the Alabama Department of Public Health shows 18,766 confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus statewide with another 306 listed as "probable." In Alabama, 651 people have died as a result of the virus. 11,395 recoveries have been confirmed by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

In Tuscaloosa County, the ADPH has confirmed 836 cases of the novel Coronavirus and lists an additional 10 "probable" cases. 16 deaths have been confirmed to have been a result of COVID-19 within Tuscaloosa County.