DHEC: Discrepancies in COVID test results blamed on delayed reporting

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - There have been some recent discrepancies when it comes to the number of reported COVID-19 cases in South Carolina.

State health officials say that’s because some testing sites don’t report results on time.

They say they routinely update their total daily cases online when delayed test results are sent in.You can find testing data on the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control website.

DHEC officials said they are reminding labs that results are to be reported to them within 24 hours.

For example, DHEC sent out a news release saying there were 264 new positive COVID-19 cases last Thursday. However, the bar chart says there were 980 positive cases that day as of Monday evening.

State health officials say this happened because of delayed reporting at the University of South Carolina.

They say USC sent in more than 1,000 test results to DHEC in one day that were from about two weeks of testing. They have since gone back to update daily totals.

Health officials say USC had a technical issue, but they now have a new way to report cases. DHEC says it will continue to update the website to be as accurate as possible.

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