OSDH Moves From Daily To Weekly Reporting Of COVID-19 Data On Online Dashboard

It's been one week since the Oklahoma State Department of Health changed its COVID-19 data reporting from daily to weekly. It is a change few people knew about.

The department said it believes the new way of reporting paints a more accurate picture of the situation in the state, but some disagree.

The current map of COVID-19 risk levels from the Brown School of Public Health shows Oklahoma as the only state in white. This is after the Oklahoma State Department of Health stopped reporting daily and moved to weekly data on its dashboard.

Deputy State Epidemiologist Jolianne Stone told News On 6 the change is not about saving money or resources but rather about accuracy.

"We felt very comfortable that moving down to weekly reporting was not going to negatively impact our acute care partners or Oklahomans in the decisions that they may make in regards to COVID," explained Stone.

But Dr. George Monks with the Oklahoma State Medical Association said the healthcare community is disappointed.

"I think people are frustrated, and I think when you start to see these large discrepancies, you start to lose faith in the process, and that's not what we need right now,” said Monks. “We need accurate and timely information."

Both Monks and Dr. Bruce Dart with the Tulsa Health Department said the state did not ask them for feedback to these important changes that could impact their work.

"We would like to continue updating daily information, but we don't have that option now that the state's only reporting weekly, and we weren't involved in the conversations to change that policy, so why it happened, we really don't know," said Dart.

The state said since the change in reporting last week, it now submits a seven-day rolling average to the CDC.

The state also said if COVID-19 cases surge, leaders will discuss whether to increase the frequency of data reporting.

Both the state and Tulsa Health Departments' online dashboards will now be updated on Wednesdays.