Ohio Underreported 4,000 COVID-19 Deaths

COLUMBUS, OH — As many as 4,000 COVID-19 deaths may have been underreported in Ohio, the state health department announced Wednesday.

The Ohio Department of Health blamed the state's reporting system for the error. The missing deaths will be added to the state's count during the coming week, officials said. Nearly 12,000 Ohioans have died from COVID-19, according to the state's current death count.

In the coming days, Ohio's COVID-19 death count may be inflated as backlogged deaths are added to the overall tally. New quality assurance processes will be implemented to prevent further mistakes with the data, ODH officials said.

"Process issues affecting the reconciliation and reporting of these deaths began in October. The largest number of deaths were from November and December. Although being reported this week, the deaths will reflect the appropriate date of death on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard," the Ohio Department of Health said in a statement.

The Auditor of State's office is investigating the health department's COVID-19 data. Auditors were invited to examine the data in September 2020.

The issue related to the unreported COVID-19 deaths was identified by the Ohio Department of Health during a routine employee training.