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State will push daily COVID-19 dashboard updates back to 5 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS – Hoosiers expecting COVID-19 data updates at noon will have to wait a few hours longer.

The Indiana Department of Health announced Monday that it would begin updating its daily coronavirus dashboard by 5 p.m. instead of 12 p.m.

The department said the change will allow for a “more thorough review of data before it is posted.” The change affects the daily COVID-19 dashboard as well as the state’s COVID-19 vaccine dashboard. School and long-term care dashboards will still update on a weekly basis.

In recent weeks, the dashboard has seen technical glitches that have delayed results. State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said that was mostly due to the overwhelming amount of data the state has to assess every day.

“When we launched these dashboards, our goal was to provide Hoosiers the best data possible to help them understand the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana,” Box said..

“As the pandemic has progressed, we have added a significant number of features and additional dashboards that have exponentially increased the volume of data required to update the dashboards. This increased volume requires more time to vet for accuracy and technical issues. We will work to update the dashboard as quickly as we can each day so that Hoosiers continue to have consistent, accurate information about COVID-19.”

As a result of the changes, the state will also “suspend publication of routine daily news releases that reflect the dashboard postings.” The state typically sent those releases to local media outlets to summarize COVID-19 data on a day-by-day basis.