COVID-19 Test Data Misrepresented by Virginia Officials

On May 9, 2020, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported the senior officials in Virginia were combining the results of viral (PCR) tests and antibody (serological) tests when reporting the number of state residents tested for COVID-19. Public health experts have criticized the move. Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, told reporters that the two tests are "totally different" and that combining their results obscures how COVID-19 is spreading. This same point was made by Ashish Jha, the K. T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard, who said that combining the results of the two tests "messes everything up," yielding data that is impossible to interpret. Professor Jha said that combining the results of the two tests makes it appear that the state has a more effective system for tracking COVID-19 than it actually does. Statements made by Clark Mercer, the chief of staff to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, suggest that is precisely why the results were combined. Mr. Mercer told reporters that combining the results of the two tests was the only way to improve Virginia's position in a list of states ranked by the number of tests they have conducted per capita. Mr. Mercer said: “If another state is including serological tests, and they’re ranked above Virginia, and we are not, and we’re getting criticized for that, [then], hey, you can’t win either way. Now we are including them, and our ranking will be better, and we’re being criticized." There is no evidence that others states are combining the results of the two tests in the same manner as Virginia.