COLUMBUS, Ohio — As many as 4,000 COVID-19 deaths may have gone underreported in Ohio, leaders with the health department announced Wednesday.
Representatives with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) noted the additional deaths will be added to the state’s count in the coming week.
Process issues affecting the reconciliation and reporting of these deaths began in October. The issue was reportedly identified during a routine employee training.
As these deaths are added to the state's data, the daily reported death counts will be high for a two to three-day period. After this increase, normal processes will resume, with increased quality assurance related to the death reconciliation process.
Although these deaths had gone unreported until this week, they are expected to reflect on the appropriate date on the state's COVID-19 dashboard.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is scheduled to hold a 2 p.m. press conference Thursday, providing the state with new information on his pandemic response strategy. It is likely he will address the underreported deaths during his briefing.
The additional 4,000 deaths would bring the state's total to a number closer to 16,000, rather than the estimated 12,000 currently reported - a 33% jump.
According to ODH, the largest number of deaths in Ohio came during the months of Nov. and Dec.
Health department leaders said they will continue working with the Auditor of State’s office, which has been engaged in an audit of COVID-19 data since Sept. of last year.
We will continue to keep you updated.