Manatee County reports 64 new COVID-19 infections. Not all of them are new cases

Two more Manatee County residents have died from COVID-19, raising the total death toll to 260, according to the Florida Department of Health. There were 64 new infections reported in the county.

The state said Tuesday’s increase in cases is due largely to a data dump from Quest Diagnostics and does not reflect the current decline in cases.

Twenty of the positive cases reported Tuesday in Manatee County were backlogged cases, according to data provided to county officials.

State officials learned Monday night that Quest Diagnostics released about 75,000 backlogged test results. Up until late July, Quest had processed tests taken at the Home Depot testing site on Cortez Road in Bradenton.

Gov. Ron DeSantis immediately ordered the Florida Department of Health to sever ties with Quest, noting that some of the results were from as far back as April.

“The law require all COVID-19 results to be reported to DOH in a timely manner,” DeSantis said in a prepared statement. “To drop this much unusable and stale data is irresponsible.”

DeSantis went onto say the state of Florida has lost confidence in Quest, and, “As such I am directing all executive agencies to sever their COVID-19 testing relationship with Quest effective immediately.”

Quest issued this statement: “Quest Diagnostics takes seriously our responsibility to report laboratory data to public health authorities in a timely manner to aid pandemic response. Due to a technical issue, our reporting of a subset of public health COVID-19 test data to the Florida Department of Health was delayed. This subset involves nearly 75,000 of the approximately 1.4 million COVID-19 tests we had performed and reported to the state.

“We apologize for this matter and regret the challenge it poses for public health authorities in Florida. The issue has since been resolved. Importantly, the issue did not affect or delay reporting of test results to providers and patients.”

Before the case numbers were reported on the online dashboard, DeSantis spokesman Fred Piccolo alerted the Miami Herald that there would be a break in the downward trend case counts have been on the last two weeks. Monday’s 1,885 new cases reported was the lowest since June 12.

“The important thing to note that no one’s test results were withheld from them. They were just withheld from us,’‘ Piccolo said, adding that is a violation they are working on addressing.

The influx of data, some now no longer relevant, moved the statewide positive rate went from 5.9% to 6.82%, Piccolo said. The number of new positive cases went from 3,782 to 7,596.

Piccolo said this will result in a new executive order from the governor who “has had it with these labs.”

The two new reported deaths in Manatee County brings the death toll to 260. The 64 new infections reported Tuesday bring the county’s total to 10,490, including 109 non-residents.

The state was aware of problems with Quest and delays with test results in July when test results were taking as long as more than two week at the test site at the Home Depot, 2350 Cortez Road in Bradenton. The state stopped using Quest and began using Mako Medical labs instead.

“The switch was made on July 20 to provide faster results for those being tested at our site, which is always a priority of the state. Questions regarding a lab’s current backlog should be directed to that lab,” Florida Division of Emergency Management Communications Director Jason Mahon told the Bradenton Herald in late July.

A follow-up email asking whether the state knew how many test results were pending or if any state-run testing sites were still using Quest went unanswered.

The testing site was one of three opened in early June as part of a partnership between the FDEM, Quest and Home Depot.

Manatee County from Monday to Tuesday:

• Cases increased from 10,426 to 10,490.
• The death toll increased from 258 to 260..
• Hospitalizations since the outbreak increased from 738 to 741.
• The number of men infected is 4,812 compared to 5,400 females with 169 not identified.
• The number of tests administered increased from 95,848 to 96,444.
• Manatee County’s overall positivity rate remained at 10.88%.

Florida from Monday to Tuesday:

• Cases rose from 623,471 to 631,040.
• The death toll rose from 11,187 to 11,374. The number of non-resident deaths remained at 144.
• Florida’s positivity rate dropped slightly to 13.48%.

Surrounding counties:

• Sarasota County: Cases increased from 7,207 to 7,239. The official death toll increased from 202 to 204.
• DeSoto County: Cases increased from 1,489 to 1,493. The official death toll remained at 22.
• Hardee County: Cases increased from 1,097 to 1,104. The official death toll remained at nine.
• Hillsborough County: Cases increased from 37,136 to 37,458. The official death toll remained at 551.
• Pinellas County: Cases increased from 19,929 to 20,026. The official death toll rose from 658 to 663.

The Miami Herald contributed to this story.