Statistical error made by the Bulgarian Ministry of Health and the National Information Agency has excluded 12 COVID deaths in April, only a day after the regular statistical information provided by the national coronavirus taskforce briefings was replaced by the national digital information system for COVID-19 reporting.
The error was established on Friday morning. About half of the 12 excluded deaths are from the capital city of Sofia. Hospitals in Sofia, on the other hand, have falsely reported deceased patients as COVID victims.
Deputy Health Minister Zheni Nacheva together with the head of Regional Health Inspection Sofia Dr. Dancho Penev and Prof. Kantardziev from the National Information Agency reported the statistical errors during an emergency briefing, covered by “DarikNews” radio. They described the false information as human error in moments of extreme tension. Nancheva stressed that the error is technical, not as a result of erupted chaos, and has occurred during the transfer of statistical data in the digital system.
During the briefing was also announced that the number of new coronavirus cases in Bulgaria has reached 35 over the last 24 hours. There are no deaths for the period. Deputy Minister Nacheva said that at 08:00 local time on Saturday the Ministry of Health will publish an announcement with the statistical figures from Thursday as there were certain contradictions in the figures from today morning.
The “contradictions” are due to the large number of hospitals – 70, and independent laboratories – 144, which are simultaneously using the national COVID-19 register system. Nacheva added that all diseased COVID patients had existing health conditions.
“As of June 4, the reported number of COVID-19 related deaths in Bulgaria is 149. Their actual number, however, is 159. The difference is due to diseased patients who haven’t been reported by the treating hospitals at the beginning of April.”
Prof. Todor Kantardjiev added:
“In April, only part of all hospitals have been included in the digital register. These are some of the busiest hospitals in the country and were unable to timely identify the real cause of death of the patients. Following lab test results have confirmed that the patients have indeed died of COVID-19 related complications. We have no interest in providing misleading information. The deviations are relatively small and have a neglectable impact on the actual pandemic situation in Bulgaria.”
