Austin Public Health reported what seemed to be a shocking number of new COVID cases Wednesday: 10,591. That’s more cases than at any time since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to the local health agency, though, the overwhelming share of those cases were not new.
“Wednesday APH released 10,591 new cases that are reflected on our dashboard," it said in a statement. "This number includes 9,623 cases entered by a new automated process.”
That means there were actually about 900 new COVID cases in the Austin area Wednesday. Daily case counts have topped at roughly 1,300 during the worst of the omicron surge.
APH said the data release was "just the latest in a series from the automated system."
Austin Public Health's Epidemiology and Public Health Preparedness Division said in a statement that the high case count reflects an effort to “automate the data entry process.” APH says this new system is a way to make sure the dashboard data is more accurate and timely. However, the process is rolling out in phases.
