Fact check: COVID-19 statistics at MSU differ from Health Dept. records  

FRIDAY, Sept. 18 — A COVID-19 case tracker updated today by Michigan State University appears to significantly understate the coronavirus caseload tied to its students and staff. 

MSU officials rolled out a new online dashboard today that’s designed to track the number of coronavirus cases detected among students as staff as the fall semester continues. One problem: MSU’s case count undercuts the actual number of confirmed cases by about 40%. 

University-issued statistics updated earlier this afternoon listed a total of 339 coronavirus cases connected to staff and students since July 27. Officials at the Ingham County Health Department, however, cite a much higher number: More than 550 cases since Sept. 1. 

A disclaimer attached to MSU’s new online module notes that totals may not necessarily be accurate, but should reflect those tested and self-reported to the university, as well as “those the university becomes aware of through campus testing sites or local health departments.” 

Asked about the substantial discrepancy, university spokesman Dan Olsen told City Pulse that MSU is actually aware of a much higher number of cases tied to the university but because those cases cannot be independently verified, they’re excluded from MSU’s latest online totals. 

The case totals listed in MSU’s online dashboard, unlike those confirmed by the Ingham County Health Department, also don’t necessarily include all students that were tested off campus, he said. As a result, the case totals provided by MSU will always be inherently lower than reality.  

“We’re trying to get as accurate of a depiction that we can,” Olsen added. “We can’t independently verify all of the information at the health department, so we don’t feel it would be appropriate to take that information and report it online. This dashboard will continue to evolve.” 

The recently developed COVID-19 dashboard was further developed this week following a massive increase in coronavirus cases tied almost exclusively to parties near MSU’s campus — a situation that Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail has since labeled as a health “crisis.” 

Since March, Ingham County has edged down its average caseload to seven or eight new COVID-19 cases each day — a standardized rate of about 25 daily cases per million residents. In recent weeks, however, that rate has skyrocketed eightfold to more than 250 daily cases per million residents — a new two-week countywide average of more than 60 new cases per day. 

The recent uptick, which Vail said is largely attributed to off-campus parties in East Lansing, means Ingham County, as of last week, was tracking the highest daily case rate in Michigan. 

It’s also getting worse. Vail tallied more than 980 cases in Ingham County (including more than 550 at MSU) since Sept. 1. That’s almost 40% of the cases detected since March in just two weeks. And on campus, more than 16% of tests in the last two weeks have come back positive. 

“I don’t have words to describe the severity of what’s happening right now,” Vail said last week.