Discrepencies noted in COVID reporting between county and state

Auglaize County has a data discrepancy with how COVID-19 deaths are reported. The state has one set of figures for the county, which show 98 deaths, while the county health department shows only 61.

The incongruity has Auglaize County Health Commissioner Oliver Fisher scratching his head.

“I am not sure where (the state) is getting all of their numbers from. The numbers we report are based on the death certificates that come through our office. If there is a delayed backlog in the vital stat deaths that have been reviewed, I can’t say for certain,” Fisher said.

He did acknowledge that it is a problem.

“A gap of 30 or so — it’s a large number,” Fisher said. “To be honest I can’t say 100 percent what is causing that issue.”

He said the health department is verifying that COVID-19 is listed in

the death certificates for the ones they receive.

Fisher was confident in other COVID-19 data, such as vaccinations reported. The numbers they report are loaded every 24 hours into a state database called Impaxis. He said staff generally verify that information against the state database.

The Wapakoneta Daily News reached out to the Ohio Department of Health for comment and had not heard back at press time.

The countywide COVID-19 Taskforce has also gone dormant, ESC director Shawn Brown, who led that task force, said.

Brown reached out to schedule additional meetings with members, but said he has not heard back from them. When asked about plans to revive the task force, Brown felt with the vaccine being distributed the need wasn’t as strong as it had been.

The task force had shared messaging ideas to help spread the word about COVID safety. During the earlier winter months area school districts had participated in making videos. Currently, vaccine provider entities are sharing information through periodic joint press releases that originate with the health department.