VW County reports 3 new Covid-19 cases

VW independent/submitted information

The Van Wert County Health Department is reporting three new confirmed cases in county residents. The 55th case is in the 10-19 age range, the 56th case is between 50 and 59 years old, and the 57th case is between 70 and 79 years old.

As of Thursday, the county has six active cases, 50 people recovered, and two hospitalized, with one death.

The health department is also aware of information circulating regarding a lab report that was made in error. Unfortunately, human errors occur. The recent release of a positive COVID-19 result to a Van Wert County resident who had never been tested was simply human error. As information for samples is entered into a lab system it is not difficult to select the wrong person with an identical or similar name. After discussions with the lab that made the report, and a little investigation, it was determined that this was the error. 

Once the results were released the error was noticed and corrected. However, the wrong results were still released to the Van Wert County Health Department. As part of the department’s job, and in an attempt to protect the public, health officials begin contact tracing as soon as possible with all positive cases. The error was identified and the positive case is not, and will not be, included with the total count for Van Wert County.