Death certificates will determine COVID-19 death data in Ohio moving forward

After months of using both the state’s disease reporting system and death registration system, the state will now solely use death certificates to track mortality rates for COVID-19.

“Early in the pandemic, Ohio recognized the need to be transparent and report data as quickly and accurately as possible. We knew the citizens of Ohio needed to know about the spread of COVID-19 statewide and their communities,” said Ohio Department of Health Director Stephanie McCloud.

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The change comes after the manual system that was used while using both the disease reporting and death registration systems led to more than 4,200 COVID-19 deaths not being reported by the state.

According to the state, the electronic death registration system is the “final source of truth about deaths.”

“The Ohio Department of Health is committed to sharing information as quickly as possible – but not at the price of accuracy. That is why, as we move forward, we will be reporting the ‘gold standard’ of data from EDRS. The mortality data will be more accurate,” said Ohio Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff.

The state’s disease reporting system, which had also been used up until Tuesday, relied on data from other sources including health departments, healthcare providers and urgent cares. By using the disease reporting system, the state had been including “probable deaths” in its daily data. That will no longer be the case, ODH said.

The state also announced that it will no longer report death data daily.

“Updated death certificate data is typically sent to the Ohio Department of Health twice per week, and may lag – often 1-2 months, but up to 6 months,” the department of health said.

Cox Media Group