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Informational Notice

Recent Delay in Daily COVID-19 Reporting Driven by Technical Issue

Commercial Lab Submitted Results in Accordance with Florida Statute and DOH Procedures

The Florida Department of Health announced Saturday that our daily COVID-19 data and surveillance reports would be delayed until Sunday due to the overnight submission of what appeared to be approximately 400,000 previously reported COVID-19 test results by Helix, a private laboratory.

Helix's submission was significantly lower than 400,000.  An unforeseen technical issue resulted in the data's repeated replication.

This was not the fault of Helix or the Department of Health.  We are working with technical experts to ensure this does not happen with subsequent data submissions.

State epidemiologists quickly noticed the error and took immediate action, reviewing and deduplicating all 400,000 individual results within 24 hours and eliminating any potential impact to the Department's statewide efforts in contact tracing. The swift response by Department staff and ready support from Helix ensured a complete and speedy resolution; none of the replicated test results have been included in subsequent daily reports.

All reported information representing past test numbers, case counts, and positivity rates remains accurate and unaffected by replicated data and there has been no delay to the return of test results to individuals or health care providers. 

More Information on COVID-19

To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, please visit the Department of Health’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage. For information and advisories from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), please visit the CDC COVID-19 website, this website is also available in Spanish and Creole. For more information about current travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State, please visit the travel advisory website.

For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida, please contact the Department’s dedicated COVID-19 Call Center by calling 1-866-779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day. Inquiries may also be emailed to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.

About the Florida Department of Health

The Florida Department of Health, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.