Programming error limited Sask. COVID-19 death, recovery reporting in January

A programming error limited Saskatchewan COVID-19 death and recovered case data reporting in January, according to the Government of Saskatchewan.

The province said an internal audit of COVID-19 reporting systems was launched after a “notable length of time” passed without a new death being reported. The audit revealed a database error created by a programming parameter of Dec. 31, 2021.

“As a result of that, there are several anomalies that were identified, including potential missing data, which has been corrected to ensure accuracy and transparency in how data is collected and reported to the public,” Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer, said during a press conference Friday.

Following the audit, nine previously unreported COVID-19 deaths were added to the province’s total on Friday.

The error occurred on a program the government uses for its COVID-19 data called Panorama.

“There’s always a refresh that happens in January because the data filters have to be reset, the data filters usually run until the end of the calendar year, which was the issue in this case,” Shahab said.

Shahab said the nine additional deaths occurred between Jan. 1 and 21, but did not have the exact dates. All of the deaths were in people over the age of 60, including four in the 80-plus category.

Premier Scott Moe said he was “saddened” to learn about the additional COVID-19 deaths, in a statement on Friday afternoon.

“It is troubling that this information was not being properly reported in the government’s daily COVID-19 updates,” Moe said. “However, Saskatchewan continues to report the lowest per capita COVID-19 fatality rate in Canada for the month of January, below provinces that have introduced the strictest lockdown policies.”

The premier said the province will continue to track COVID-19 data closely, but he does not expect additional public health measures and restrictions will be introduced.

Shahab said some historic hospitalization data has also been updated, including 11 COVID-19 ICU admissions and six inpatient admissions. An additional 2,233 historic resolved COVID-19 cases will also be added to the province’s totals.

Shahab said further reviews of the COVID-19 dashboard and data base will continue, to ensure the information is as “timely and accurate as possible.”

The province noted that this issue does not impact the number of new cases, hospitalizations and ICU statistics posted throughout January.