Tennessee

We noticed that the dataset for tests in your GIS query (https://services1.arcgis.com/HLC8bAygObK4fhPW/arcgis/rest/services/TN_COVID19_Daily/FeatureServer/0/query?where=DATE+%3E+timestamp+%272020-04-21+00%3A00%3A00%27+and+DATE+%3C+timestamp+%272020-09-24+00%3A00%3A00%27&outFields=FID%2CDATE%2CDATE%2CTEST_POS%2CTEST_NEG%2CTEST_TOT&cacheHint=false&orderByFields=DATE+asc) recently cut out all data between April 22 and September 22. Is this a bug and do you plan on restoring the data?

We believe that Tennessee is reporting probable cases using the most recent CSTE case definition according to this document: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/COVID-Case-Definition.pdf

Is this correct, and if so, would TN be able to add this information in a more exact form to its public data FAQ under the question "What is a probable case or death?": https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov/data/data-faqs.html?

As it is written right now, it is hard to tell what case definition TN is using based on this data FAQ because it is phrased vaguely.

Do you have plans to release a full historical time-series of all testing and results? We have been capturing the total test results in “Laboratory Testing Total or Tests” since 6/12/2020. Do you plan to release a historical time series of that number? Will this historical data set be available consistently and in an automation friendly format, like an ArcGIS or CKAN API or a direct download of CSV or JSON?

Data on testing by report date are available (and updated daily) here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/datasets/Public-Dataset-Daily-Case-Info.XLSX and at the county level here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/datasets/Public-Dataset-County-New.XLSX.

We are currently interpreting “Laboratory Testing Total or Tests” as referring to the total number of specimens tested. Is this correct? If so, do you have plans to release the total number of unique individuals tested?

That is correct. We do not have imminent plans to release the unique number of individuals tested; however it is ~1.4 million.

Do you perform any deduplication to reach the “Laboratory Testing Total or Tests” ? If so, how? (i.e. instances swabbed per day/week; recording only one positive test per person, but multiple negative tests for the same person; etc.)? When reporting testing results, if the same person gets different test results on different days, would you report raw results as part of the daily positives or do you apply any kind of logic such as reporting only the first negative or positive result per individual?

I’m still checking on this and will have to get back to you

We’re also interested in testing data in units of “testing encounters”, which can be defined as “the number of unique people who have been tested per day.” Under this metric, if a person is being tested once today and once again the following week, that counts as two tests, however, if the same person has two samples tested at a testing center visit, then that only counts as one testing encounter. Are you willing to or are you planning to release testing encounters? If so, will you be able to provide historical data consistently under an automation friendly format, like an ArcGIS or CKAN API or a direct download of CSV or JSON?

We do not have plans to release testing encounters at this time.

How many cases have you had as of July 2nd?

To date, there have been 1,688 cases and 213 deaths associated with LTCF. All deaths are among residents.

Are there any cases or deaths related to staff at long-term care facilities? What about health care workers outside of facilities (hospitals etc)?

We report information on COVID-19 cases among staff members and residents of long-term care facilities on our website at https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov/data/clusters-in-long-term-care-facilities.html. This information is updated at 2 p.m. CDT each Friday.

When it comes to your racial breakdown of the data, what groups are included in Other, and would it be possible to report Other and Multiracial separately?

We use the standard Centers for Disease Control and Prevention race/ethnicity definitions and you can find more information at https://phinvads.cdc.gov/vads/ViewValueSet.action?id=67D34BBC-617F-DD11-B38D-00188B398520. Beginning tomorrow, we will start breaking out Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and American Indian or Alaska Native as separate categories.

In the state breakdown of cases by race/ethnicity, what groups are included in the category 'Other'? Do all entities reporting race/ethnicity to the state capture that data using the same fields?

As for your question about the breakdown of cases by race/ethnicity, the Tennessee Department of Health uses the CDC recommended categories for race. More information can be found at  https://phinvads.cdc.gov/vads/ViewValueSet.action?id=67D34BBC-617F-DD11-B38D-00188B398520, which allows for multiple races to be selected or any patient. The category “other” is any combination of races, races classified by the public health investigator as “Other Race”, or singular races such as American Indian or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders  with counts <0.5% of our total cases. More than 90% of the patients identified in this category have been reported by investigators with the singular classification of “Other Race”. Race/ethnicity are captured by our public health investigators during the case investigation process; therefore there is a standard approach to how these data are captured statewide.

Does "total tested" refer to people tested or specimens tested? Are antibody tests included in this figure, and if so does the state have plans to break them out?

The total number of negative and positive results posted on Tennessee’s websites includes PCR testing, which tests for current infection. Antibody testing is not included on our dashboards, but CDC is including antibody testing in the numbers they have reported.Additionally, we only count a positive case once; subsequent positive tests on one individual do not count toward the total tests posted on Tennessee’s website. CDC’s total testing numbers include all tests performed; therefore, multiple positive tests on one individual will be counted in CDC’s U.S. COVID Testing dashboard. CDC includes multiple positive tests in their count of all tests performed, NOT in their count of cases."