Late reporting, review explain ‘sudden’ increase in Lincoln COVID deaths

STANFORD, Ky. (WTVQ) – Some Lincoln County residents were left scratching their heads after the state’s coronavirus Web site showed a sudden jump in the number of virus-related deaths in the county in just a matter of days.

Residents questioned whether it was a mistake, an outbreak that needed more attention or something else.

According to Lincoln County Health Department Administrator Diane Miller, the increase from the two deaths that were listed last week to the 10 listed this week can be attributed to delays in reporting and confirmation.

Although Miller couldn’t pinpoint specific dates, she said the deaths actually go back as far as June and haven’t all come in the last few days.

And the county has a nursing home that had several dozen cases earlier this summer.

Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack has addressed that quirk in the reporting system on several occasions, including once earlier this week.

The state has a medical committee that reviews deaths to determine whether they meet the criteria established by federal health authorities as a coronavirus-related death.

In many of the deaths, the victims suffer from other underlying health conditions but the coronavirus expedites and is a major factor in the death. But those cases have to be reviewed, sometimes in detail, to see how they should be classified, Stack has said.

“If a person has the coronavirus but dies in a car accident, that wouldn’t be classified. But if a person has lung issues and has the coronavirus, that could be classified as related. It’s all part of a nationwide effort to be consistent, accurate and transparent,” he has said.

But the numbers can be even more confusing as experts try to make sure cases and deaths are attributed to the proper location and county.

For instance, the state Web site — http://www.kycovid19.ky.gov/ — lists Lincoln County as having 10 deaths and 142 cases total.

But a separate page covering cases at long-term care facilities lists the Stanford Care and Rehab as having 74 recovered cases among residents and 18 deaths for 92 cases. Another 60 staff are listed as having recovered from the virus.

Those cases were during the summer.

That alone adds up to 152 cases. Breckinridge Place lists another two cases among staff.

The difference is some of the staff live in another county so their case is listed in their home county in the county statistics.

On the difference between the 18 deaths at the long-term care facility and the 10 deaths listed on the state web site for the county, Miller said eight cases still are under review because of the late reporting.

“Those cases are just still under review so the county’s number could go up again,” Miller explained.