How is COVID-19 test data reported on the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department website; what does it represent? On July 24, the “total test” data was as follows: 70,350 tests were administered; 5,576 were positive; and 64,856 were negative. The number grows every day.
Is this the number of individuals who were tested, or the number of tests given? It stands to reason since these are point-in-time tests that an individual could be have been tested more than once in the last few months, especially those who previously tested positive and need a clean bill of health to return to work, public safety employees, and health care professionals. In addition, some employers require regular testing for essential employees.
The answer to this question would be important, because if people are tested multiple times and the cumulative result is reported, it could alter the severity of the issue.
Ron Fink
Lompoc
This article appears in Aug 20-27, 2020.