After backlog, virus data trends resume

Florida back to regular trends one day after dump of backlog data

Florida got back to its regular COVID-19 number trends on Wednesday, a day after one major lab dumped a backlog of testing results that infuriated state officials.

The Department of Health reported 130 more people died from the infectious disease, and 2,402 more people were infected. The daily testing positivity rate was 5.63% for new infections only.

These figures are in line with recent statistical trends. The new infections were down from the 7,569 cases added Tuesday, which state leaders blamed in large part on Quest Diagnostics not reporting 75,000 test results from as far back as April.

Florida severed its ties with the national lab giant, and vowed to steer business elsewhere. Quest apologized for what it called a technical issue, and said it had otherwise smoothly processed about 1.4 million COVID-19 results in the state.

Usually, there’s a much shorter lag time between the collection of swabs over several days — and processed by numerous labs — and the confirmation of positive results on the state’s daily pandemic reporting.

In a statement, Quest said people received their test results without delay. State officials also said the backlog “does not impact the health of individuals or the spread of COVID-19 in Florida,” but Gov. Ron DeSantis said it interferes with communities that are planning business and school reopenings.

With Wednesday’s report, the state has tallied a total of 633,442 COVID-19 cases and 11,651 deaths linked to the disease.

The daily death report reflects COVID-19 fatalities in recent weeks, but just confirmed in the past 24 hours. So far this week, the state reported 14 deaths on Sunday, 68 deaths on Monday and 190 deaths on Tuesday.