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Wednesday, August 12, 2020

COVID19--Heuristic Algorithmic Crashes--"HAL" REBOOTED


     "...I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that..."
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     Discovery One (EOC)-- Facing unprecedented input levels, state health department disease reporting systems are crashing across the board, leaving officials with blank faces unable to make reopening decisions. The problem isn't unique to the recent surge in cases, as well as increased testing results, but has been around since Washington state first discovered the abnormal presence of the coronavirus menace last spring. Since then, with the onset of an existential pandemic affecting everything from employment to tenant evictions, information technology systems are crashing. The following reports, curated from a variety of sources, indicate the degree of the problem:  (Note: As per the reported glitches, just how many are going unreported is uncertain)
12 August 2020--California

Tech Challenges Complicate California's COVID-19 Response

(TNS) - Before he became California governor last year, Gavin Newsom built his reputation as a tech-savvy Bay Area politician, who wrote a book arguing government should follow Silicon Valley's lead and embrace new technology. But five months into the biggest crisis of his governorship, technology problems have become major stumbling blocks to his coronavirus strategy.

12 August 2020-- Florida

Reporting glitch upends confidence as Florida adds 8,000 coronavirus cases

Coronavirus updates: Florida reaches 550,901 cases with 8,898 deaths; Palm Beach County has 37,934 cases with 970 deaths. * TO OUR READERS: The Palm Beach Post will continue to provide essential coverage of the coronavirus for free. You can have coronavirus news delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for our Coronavirus Newsletter.

12 August 2020--Kentucky

With computer glitch, state hits one-day coronavirus high - ABC 36 News

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) - The state recorded its highest one-day total of new coronavirus cases Wednesday, partially because of a stack up in cases from a computer glitch in reporting but also because "the virus still is very real," Gov. Andy Beshear said.

11 August 2020--Oklahoma

894 New COVID-19 Cases Reported Tuesday In State, 820 More COVID-19 Cases Found In Backlog

A large number of new coronavirus cases were reported Tuesday and the state health department found a backlog of 820 cases, Oklahoma Interim Health Commissioner Lance Frye said. Frye said 894 new cases were tallied on Tuesday and the department found a backlog of 820 cases that was not reported.

07 August 2020--Iowa

Iowa Puts $21M in COVID-19 Aid Toward State Computer System

(TNS) - Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has transferred $21 million intended for Iowa coronavirus relief to help pay for a computer system already in the works before the pandemic. As of July 31, Reynolds has transferred $627.3 million from the $1.25 billion in federal funds Iowa got through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act, passed by Congress in March, the Legislative Services Agency reported Wednesday.

26 July 2020--Texas

Dallas County Reports 605th COVID-19 Death, 800 New Cases

Dallas County officials reported 800 new cases and the county's 605th death related to the coronavirus on Sunday. The additional death was a Dallas man in his 40s who had been critically ill with the coronavirus in an area hospital. The man had underlying high-risk health conditions.

30 June 2020--Tennessee

Tennessee's COVID-19 reporting system shuts down for 9 hours due to high volumes of data : The Tennessee health department's COVID-19 daily reporting system experienced downtime on June 28 due to an unplanned shutdown, Times News reports.

The Tennessee health department's COVID-19 daily reporting system experienced downtime on June 28 due to an unplanned shutdown, reports. "An unplanned shutdown of the state surveillance system," which tracks COVID-19 testing and case/death counts, occurred at 3 a.m. on June 28, the Tennessee Department of Health told the publication.

07 May 2020--Minnesota

Minnesota reports 30 COVID-19 deaths, including two tied to food processing plants

Minnesota reported a single-day record of 30 deaths related to COVID-19 on Wednesday, including a worker in the 50s age range at the JBS plant in Worthington that has shut down amid a substantial outbreak of the infectious disease.

22 April 2020--Indiana

Daily coronavirus count dips, but Indiana official points out technical glitch

Indiana reported about 400 new cases of coronavirus both Tuesday and Wednesday, fewer than in many other days in the past. But state health officials warned that the lower numbers were not necessarily a reflection of what had actually occurred.

17 April 2020--Pennsylvania

Pa. underreported 18% of COVID deaths this week; state blames computer glitches

Wardle said that Gov. Tom Wolf was briefed on reporting issues by Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine and that the undercount was discussed again during an internal call today. He said the artificially low numbers had not affected policy decisions to ease aspects of the statewide shutdown, such as a recent move to reopen state liquor stores.

16 April 2020--Louisiana

Coronavirus numbers caught in reporting glitch

Errors in the Louisiana Department of Health's (LDH) recording of confirmed coronavirus cases have apparently hit Lincoln Parish for at least the second time. Wednesday's LDH update showed the parish with 41 positive cases, down from the 42 reported on Tuesday. But parish Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Kip Franklin disputes the finding.

09 April 2020--Tennessee

Nashville mayor: National database glitch affecting health departments across Tennessee

A technical problem with a national database is hampering the abilities of health departments across the state of Tennessee in reporting new COVID-19 cases.

21 March 2020-- Washington state

Flood of coronavirus data overwhelms Washington state's disease-reporting system, leading to lag in data

Even as the novel coronavirus has spread from Washington's cities to its small towns and rural communities, Department of Health (DOH) officials acknowledged Tuesday they're wrestling with another thorny problem from the pandemic: A flood of case data is overwhelming the disease-reporting system.

 

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL..."


     The above are just a few of the breakdowns of hardware on board spaceship Earth that have created major headaches for administrators, having sleepless nights trying to find a way to contain the virus amid surges, political stubbornness over relief legislation and the public at large in rebellion over simple mitigation mandates.
     The computer crashes are not restricted to infectious disease reporting. Unemployment has created chaos for many states with antiquated systems meant to deal with minor jobless claims being filed. 
      Is all of this being guided by some unforeseen force beyond the level of intelligent life in the universe? Perhaps it's all being controlled by the Heuristically Programmed ALgorithmic Computer, also known as "HAL"  on board Discovery One enroute to Jupiter...It appears 2001 is finally here.
    
Cited:

Credit, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), dir. Stanley Kubrick, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/
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Tuesday, August 11, 2020

COVID19 CALIFORNIA--Kamala Harris & Quest Diagnostics-- TEST LAB VENDETTA

     "...this historic settlement affirms that Medi-Cal exists to help the state's neediest families rather than to illicitly line private pockets.." (Atty Gen Harris, 2011)
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     INCLINE VILLAGE (EOC)-- If life were a movie and gangsters were in charge of laboratories, then the recent episode coming out of Sacramento might hint at why the director of the State Health Department resigned, reported by KCRA News today,
      "...the problem began with a computer server outage July 25 and was compounded by the state’s failure to renew a 2-year-old certificate for an intermediary for one of the nation’s largest commercial labs, meaning the state did not receive updates for five days from Quest Diagnostics." (1)
That failure to upgrade the test lab subscription cost the state 300,000 cases that went unreported right in a critical time with school just around the corner and expiration of the CARES Act supplemental unemployment income for jobless workers at the end of the month.(2)


     As in baseball, when an umpire doesn't like the way a pitcher buzzes a batter, the result is "history" between the two. In the case of Quest, the pitcher, and Medi-Cal, the umpire, that history began ten years ago in a False Claims Act settlement that netted the California health agency more than $240 million in back pay. The attorney general at the time was none other than Kamala Harris, chosen today by Democratic candidate for the White House, Joe Biden, to be his running mate; 
     "In a time of shrinking budgets, this historic settlement affirms that Medi-Cal exists to help the state's neediest families rather than to illicitly line private pockets,' said Attorney General Harris. 'Medi-Cal providers and others who try to cheat the state through false claims and illegal kickbacks should know that my office is watching and will prosecute.' " (3)
     In the case of last week's computer glitch, the governor promised to "hold people to account" according to that KCRA report from above. Without further explanation, the first to be fitted with cement shoes for a short trip to Folsom Lake was Sonia Angell, M.D., the state health director. (4) In spite of the well wishes from the governor on her departure, the entire affair stinks from the top down! For Quest Diagnostics, The Sacramento Bee reported in 2011 regarding the settlement itself, in a column by Mark Glover;
     " 'Our laboratory testing services were priced appropriately, and we deny all allegations in the complaint.' said Michael Prevoznik, Quest senior vice president and and general counsel." (5)


     Not so according to AG Harris who, in a 2011 formal press release at the attorney general's office noted Quest charged  Medi-Cal $8.59 for one test and charged others just under $1.50 for the same test. As swiftly as  conspiracy theory speculation sweeps across social media, it may be no different with the current status quo surrounding pandemic testing. That may be the reason for Quest, a vital link in the chain of command necessary for the governor's office to make life saving decisions, not to send up a red flare to Governor Newsom alerting him to the upcoming expiring subscription. Blackmail, extortion, scandal, all the ingredients of a cheap gangster flick. And what about Kamala? Anything more there that can be sensationalized over the scandal? 
     At the time, Quest wasn't the only one scalping the state health agency, Labcorp was squeezed in 2011 by the AG's office in another settlement just under $50 million for similar medical malpractice.
     Fast forward to the current pandemic testing shortage, news reports are now surfacing of a different story entirely in the effort to stay current with positivity. Bulletins by Matt Voltz and Phil Galewitz originating at the KHN health news website indicate the inability of Quest to keep up with demand;
     "Montana said Wednesday that it is dropping Quest Diagnostics, one of the nation’s largest diagnostic testing companies...it (Quest) told state officials last week that it was at capacity and would be unable to accommodate more tests for two or three weeks." (7)  Naturally it would be far more convenient to take advantage of a computer glitch at the California state level and allow the electronic certificate to expire rather than have the syndicate admit it can't handle its territory. But according to the certificate expiration imbroglio in the Luna-Shalby-Mozingo article in the LA Times last week;
     " 'Simultaneously, we discovered that we were not receiving data from one of our largest commercial labs for a period of five days,' (Dr. Mark) Ghaly said. 'This was due to a certificate that the state neglected to renew timely. This resulted in data not being able to transmit to the state.' Ghaly identified the lab as Quest Diagnostics and said the company had been unable to send test results to the state from July 31 through Aug. 4." (8)
     For a company that just a few years prior was hit with a whopping Kamala Harris fine combined with the fact it was falling behind and needed the invoice to cover costs, Ghaly might be overlooking some suspect details as to how the document conveniently expired and went unnoticed for a week. The legislative analysts office has reported that the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) would release over $15 billion to the state for use other than state revenue loss. (9) With expiration of  the federal unemployment addon and the new White House directive for the state to cover 25 percent of the new package, the governor sees no solution to the deficit. (10) A great deal of that money is earmarked for testing and has become a proposed slush fund to cover other costs.


     Certainly no one could have foreseen something that Democratic VP nominee Kamala Harris did almost ten years ago might have a devastating affect on the dire straits the state finds itself in today. Back in 2011 the biggest concern was a blood count test and which doctors were getting a cut rate, petty thievery at best. Suddenly the testing monopoly by lab syndicates such as Quest and Labcorp are thrust into the spotlight and facing an old foe. No longer a nickel-dime numbers racket run by neighborhood dons, it involves billions of dollars of federal pandemic relief money.


Cited:
(5) Settlement, Sacramento Bee, 20 May 2011, Page B6.
(6) Labcorp, Visalia Times-Delta, 31 Aug 2011, Page 14

Atty Gen Harris image, The Sacramento Bee, 04 Jan 2011, Page A3

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