Samford University reported a total of 56 COVID-19 cases on its website today after temporarily taking down its reporting dashboard for 24 hours to re-evaluate the data. The total number, according to the website, includes positive tests among the university’s students, faculty and staff who have been on campus within two days of the diagnosis. It includes both “active cases on campus and those who have recovered,” per the website.
A note published today on the dashboard site said, “On August 25, 2020 at 12:45 p.m. the COVID-19 dashboard data was temporarily removed in order to verify our processes for reporting COVID-19 cases on our campus and to correct previously reported data. The dashboard was reposted at 12 p.m. on August 26.”
The updated data now includes cases on dates that were not previously reflected on the dashboard, though the total number of cases did not increase as a result of the new dates added.
Between the early afternoon of Aug. 25 and noon on Aug. 26, the following message appeared on the dashboard instead of the case numbers while the university verified previously reported data:
“The aggregation of testing data is highly complicated, involving confirming results from local, state and national health care providers. We are currently refining our processes for verifying and reporting cases on our campus. We are committed to transparency and accuracy in our reporting and are in the process of updating this dashboard.”
Updated language on the website indicates the university is considering “an alternative presentation of the data” that may be available “in the days ahead.”
