Texas health department error attributed 225 deaths to COVID-19

The Texas health department made an error in the COVID-19 death rate calculation, inflating the number to include 225 deaths not associated with COVID-19, according to The Epoch Times.

The Texas Department of State Health Services sent out the news via tweet on July 29, saying that 225 individuals were counted as COVID-19-related deaths despite COVID-19 not being listed as the cause of death on the person's death certificate, as is required in Texas for the official counts. The department stated it found the issue during a manual quality check and corrected the COVID-19 death rate data on July 30.

Texas began using death certificates for counting COVID-19 deaths on July 27, but this method of calculating deaths does not include people who had COVID-19 and died for other reasons.

The Texas Department of State Health Services also did not report COVID-19 data on Aug. 2 due to a software upgrade, which the agency says will allow it to process incoming lab results faster and in compliance with the CDC.

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