CORYELL COUNTY, Texas — Coryell County Judge Roger Miller was notified by Region 7 (PHR7) of the Department of State Health services Thursday that COVID-19 cases for the county had been under-reported in the last few months. About 2,477 cases have not been reported in the data lists provided daily by the PHR7.
Most of those cases came in the months of December 2020 and January 2021.
The email from the PHR7 indicated that a major adjustment to Coryell County's COVID-19 case numbers will happen on Monday, according to the office of Miller.
Miller immediately responded via email to the director of Region 7, Dr. Sharron Melville.
"Your staff is proposing to increase our county's case count by 85% in one day, almost doubling our total number of cases to date," Miller said. " Although I am sympathetic to the challenges you and your staff have faced in dealing with this unprecedented event, the solution you are about to implement erodes the foundation of trust local governments have tried to maintain with their citizens."
Miller went on to say, "Had we been aware of just how serious our increase of infection rate was, we might have been able to take steps to lessen that rate. Someone could have, should have, informed us. But that wasn't the case. We were left clueless and in the dark. Ultimately, we are being left to explain a situation for which we have no real explanation."
Coryell County has been and will continue to be open, honest and transparent with reporting COVID-19 cases. Daily lists provided by the PHR7 are reviewed daily for inaccuracies and completeness, according to the office of Judge Miller.
The PHR7 is attributing 40 cases to Coryell County where the address is in another county. There are an additional 46 cases being attributed to Coryell County where no address or an unidentifiable address is listed.
"When you look at the numbers on the county website, I can tell you with complete confidence those are confirmed, verifiable numbers. Nothing overinflated a noting hidden," Miller said.
Miller encourages all county citizens to not over-react to this news. Although it is concerning and the inaccurate data skewed some of the decisions that have been made, it is not something that is going to cripple the county. County government functions remain open to the public, other than most in-person court proceedings. Those have been suspended until March 1.
Additional information will be updated on the Coryell County website.
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