DHHS officials blame faulty Rochester data on cases not being properly 'closed out'

DHHS chief Lori Shibinette at an earlier COVID-19 press conference in Concord. (file photo)

CONCORD - State DHHS officials on Thursday blamed seven weeks of faulty reporting of Rochester's current COVID-19 cases on a reporting glitch.

The agency's emailed explanation late yesterday afternoon came in response to The Rochester Voice's demand during Thursday's press conference to know how and why the mistake occurred, whether it was isolated or systemic and what was being done to prevent faulty data from being released in the future.

"We have determined that the eight cases that were reflected for Rochester on the current map of cases earlier this week are cases that have recovered and are no longer on isolation," Jake Leon, director of communications for DHHS, said. "When these individuals were taken off of isolation, a step was missed in 'closing out' their record in our data system. This led to the discrepancy between the data provided to municipalities through 911 and the current map of cases."

The recording snafu came to light after Elizabeth Daly, the director of Public Health Preparedness, notified Rochester Emergency Operations Chief Mark Klose on Wednesday that "in looking at the 'current' cases in Rochester, I have determined that the cases that are included in the map were from the end of May and early June and should have been removed from our map."

Daly had the map numbers fixed on Thursday reflecting no current cases in Rochester, which had been mistakenly labeled as the COVID hot spot in Strafford County since early June.

Leon said DHHS has taken several steps to ensure this doesn't happen again.

"We are currently conducting a review of all town level data to confirm this is an isolated issue," he said. "If we discover additional instances besides Rochester, we will announce them publicly. We are also implementing a weekly review of our data to confirm the status of all current cases in an effort to prevent such discrepancies in the future."

Thursday's press conference also brought good news for patients at Frisbie Memorial and Wentworth Douglass hospitals, who will now be allowed at least one "advocate" who can be with them during an emergency room visit or inpatient stay.

DHHS Commissioner Lori Shibinette said the change is in effect immediately and is already in place in some hospitals across the state.

She added that hospitals can increase the number of visitors or pull back from the change all together if COVID-19 cases spike.

Shibinette also announced 25 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, one new hospitalization and three new virus-related deaths, all 60 or older.

Gov. Sununu also announced a $4½ million in CARES ACT money to fill gaps in funding young people's summer recreation programs like summer day camps and other programs that may have been affected by the pandemic. He said the aid would be extended into programs that would continue into the school year.

He said folks could find out more by going to goferr.nh.gov and click on the buttons that says "Empower Youth."

More NH COVID numbers

NH Persons with COVID-19 6,318

Recovered 5,345 (85%)

Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 405 (6%)

Total Current COVID-19 Cases 568

Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 681 (11%)

Current Hospitalizations 26

Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 3,425