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News about coronavirus in Florida and around the world is constantly emerging. It's hard to stay on top of it all but Health News Florida can help. Our responsibility is to keep you informed, and to help discern what’s important for your family as you make what could be life-saving decisions.

Private Lab Cleared In Data Problem That Delayed Florida Coronavirus Report

MANATEE COUNTY

The Florida Department of Health said Monday that a private lab was not at fault for a problem Saturday that delayed the release of statistics about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The department said Saturday that it had received about 400,000 previously reported test results from the Helix laboratory company and that it would need to “de-duplicate hundreds of thousands of results.”

After months of releasing daily statistics about the pandemic, the department did not put out a report Saturday, before resuming Sunday.

On Monday, however, the department released a statement clearing Helix of blame for the problems.

It said Helix’s submission of test results was “significantly lower” than 400,000 and that a technical issue caused the data’s repeated replication.

“This was not the fault of Helix or the Department of Health,” Monday’s statement said. “We are working with technical experts to ensure this does not happen with subsequent data submissions.”

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