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Northern California county changes COVID-19 death reporting

The county will now report deaths as coronavirus-related fatalities when people died as a direct result of COVID-19 or had the virus as a contributing cause.

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. — A Northern California county has changed its methodology to record coronavirus deaths, causing its fatality figures to decrease by 25%. 

The official COVID-19 death count in Alameda County, in the San Francisco Bay Area, fell from 1,634 to 1,223 after officials changed the criteria for fatalities to match state and national definitions. The county will now only report deaths as coronavirus-related fatalities when people died as a direct result of COVID-19, or had the virus as a contributing cause of death as well as people for whom COVID-19 could not be ruled out as a cause of death.

Previously, the county had included any person who died while infected with the virus.

The Alameda County Public Health Department says its methodology change, which was announced on Friday, June 4, does not disproportionally impact reported deaths for any specific race, ethnic group or ZIP code. Statewide, more than 62,000 people have died from the coronavirus.

"When the State implemented these guidelines, Alameda County became aware of the conflicting definitions and made a plan to conduct the update when cases and deaths stabilized," a press release from the Alameda County Public Health Department said. 

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