Iowa county says clinic failed to report 3,000 COVID tests

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa county said Tuesday that a clinic failed to report up to 3,000 negative coronavirus test results, as concerns about inaccuracies in the state’s official pandemic data continued to mount even as schools use it to determine their fall plans.

Webster County Public Health department spokeswoman Kelli Bloomquist said her agency uncovered the clinic's failure to report negative tests last week, and the clinic belatedly submitted the 3,000 results. The county didn’t say why the clinic was not reporting the negative results.

The state system rejected the submissions, but a subsequent review confirmed that many tests had not been entered, Bloomquist said. The new information dramatically reduced the county's 14-day positivity rate, which the state is using to determine whether school districts must return for at least 50% in-person instruction.

The Fort Dodge Community School District announced late Monday that the lower positivity rate would allow school to start on Aug. 25 as initially envisioned. Last week, the district announced a plan to delay the start date given the seemingly high level of community spread following a major outbreak at a prison.

Separately, Humboldt Community School District Superintendent Jim Murray said he learned Tuesday that the county positivity rate of 22.6% — highest in the state — will be lower once unspecified data errors are corrected. He said the district would not seek a waiver to start online.

The Associated Press reported Monday that potentially thousands of positive coronavirus cases have been backdated due to an error in the state system. The problem appears to have artificially lowered many local positivity rates, independent researchers say.

U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, called the news a “gut punch” and called on the governor to fix the...