Hamilton implements two-day delay in COVID-19 reporting

The City of Hamilton says the COVID-19 data reported on the website will now be two days behind.

The city is blaming the lag on the transition to a new case and contact management system.

The new system is designed to streamline and simplify reporting and eliminate issues with duplicates.

But the city says full implementation is taking some time, including the identification and correction of issues.

“While Public Health Services had anticipated that these issues would be resolved, at this point we are continuing to need to use manual methods for some data management,” said the city in a news release.

Because of the need for a manual review of data, there will now be a 48-hour delay in reporting daily case counts, deaths, exposure acquisition, sex, age, and severity.

That would mean COVID-19 cases that are reported to Hamilton Public Health on Monday will be published on the website by Wednesday.

“These process changes will help us to ensure the public has access to the most up to date and complete information possible, which is a critical element in our successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.”