COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Health on Friday announced a backlog of tens of thousands of COVID-19 cases will be reported of the next several days, saying the department’s system has reached its processing capacity amid an unprecedented surge in virus cases.
Health officials reported an additional 41,455 cases on Friday.
According to a release, testing from laboratories across the state is automatically submitted through an electronic reporting system, which then feeds into the Ohio Disease Reporting System.
“As COVID-19 cases have reached all-time highs, driven largely by the highly contagious Omicron variant, the system reached its processing capacity, resulting in a multiple-day backlog of tens of thousands of results,” a release from ODH says in part.
Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff detailed that surge during a briefing on Thursday, saying hospitalizations have “shattered records” in recent weeks.
As a result, health officials will report what they’re calling an artificially high case count for the next several days. The case results will be processed in regard to their illness onset date during this time.
You can keep track of cases as they’re reported here.