Excel spreadsheet blunder sees thousands of positive Covid-19 tests go missing Excel spreadsheet
A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet error has caused circa 16,000 coronavirus tests to be misplaced in the UK, playing havoc with official figures and contact tracing efforts.
As a result of the blunder, tens of thousands of people that came into contact with coronavirus sufferers were not warned immediately, heightening the likelihood that others were infected unnecessarily by asymptomatic carriers.
The incident meant official infection figures reported on September 30 should have been 3,049 greater, figures on October 1 were undersold by a further 4,133 and on October 2 by 4,786.
The original numbers reported appeared to suggest the recent rise in UK coronavirus diagnoses was tapering off, which could well have had an impact on the government’s pandemic response.
After the error was discovered, the 16,000 missing results were added to the official records and the details handed over to the team responsible for contact tracing, who are now handling a vast backlog.
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet error
Opinions often differ when it comes to Microsoft Excel, which is loved dearly by spreadsheet savants but feared (or even hated) by the number-phobic among us – this writer included. If used well, the productivity software is undeniably powerful, but the opportunity for catastrophe is also ever-present.
In this instance, the government originally pointed the finger at “computer issues”, but it later came to light that an Excel spreadsheet containing test results had reached capacity, which caused new entries to simply fall into the abyss.
Although the maximum number of rows per Excel file sits at more than one million, it appears the system stored each test result in a new column instead (which max out at roughly 16,000 per file).
The files used to record positive coronavirus results have reportedly been divided into multiple smaller files to prevent a recurrence of the same issue.
Public Health England is yet to provide further clarification, but has released a statement suggesting that “further robust measures have been put in place”.
Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is expected to make a public statement imminently, addressing the cause and ramifications of the issue.
Via The Telegraph
A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet error has caused circa 16,000 coronavirus tests to be misplaced in the UK, playing havoc with official figures and contact tracing efforts. As a result of the blunder, tens of thousands of people that came into contact with coronavirus sufferers were not warned immediately, heightening the…
