STANFORD, Ky. (WDRB) -- Officials in Lincoln County were left scratching their heads last week when Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear reported eight new deaths related to COVID-19 in the county.
Lincoln County Coroner Farris Marcum told WDRB News his office has no record of any recent deaths related to the disease.
The deaths aren't fabricated numbers, however. They're a result of a delay in reporting.
"The deaths go back as far as June," said Diane Miller, director of the Lincoln County Health Department. "So, the reporting is for the months of June, July and August. It's delayed reporting."
The eight deaths occurred over a nearly four-month span and are all related to an outbreak at Lincoln County's long-term care facility, Stanford Care & Rehab, Miller said.
The county has reported a total of 18 COVID-19 related deaths, according to Miller, but the governor's office has only reported 10.
Diane Miller, director of the Lincoln County Health Department
Miller attributes the discrepancy to delayed reporting and the intricate process of getting get statistics from local health departments to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
"What happened is, I put the information in the reporting system and there's a medical review team for the Department of Public Health who reviews those deaths to determine whether it's a COVID-related death or not," Miller said.
State Rep. David Meade, R-Stanford, heard from concerned constituents and county officials after Beshear reported the numbers last week.
"We're a small community," Meade said, "and, when you hear we've had eight deaths in a week, it creates some fear within the community."
It took several days for Meade and other officials to realize that the state was reporting a lump sum of deaths that had occurred in Lincoln County.
"The delay in the reporting, along with some of the regulations that are being put out by the governor's administration, are causing a lot of confusion and raising a lot of questions right now," Meade said.
Lincoln County's seemingly mysterious COVID deaths are now accounted for, but they're highlighting concerns with the legitimacy of daily reporting.
"It seems like the goal post keeps moving and the data keeps getting reported differently from week to week," Meade said. "It's confusing and it's frustrating at times."
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