The Department of Corrections is reporting flawed data to keep inmates, families, and public officials informed about COVID-19 in its prisons, raising questions about the agency’s ability to accurately track outbreaks.

A five-month analysis of prison data by Spotlight PA found large fluctuations in the number of tests administered and unexplained changes to the death count. The findings were confirmed by a California researcher who was also tracking the department’s data and had noticed problems.

In an announcement Friday, sent moments before Spotlight PA's story was published, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel conceded the problems were "unacceptable" and said he was taking action to fix them.

“In our haste to get information out to the public, we put a process in place that involved a single individual pulling data from multiple sources manually every day," Wetzel said.

THE CONTEXT: The data problems have compounded concern among families desperate to understand what’s happening to their loved ones inside prisons.

The department recently doubled down on its policy to not inform family members when loved ones get sick or die unless they are listed as the emergency contact on department paperwork, which is often as old as an inmate’s prison term.

"I check every chance I get and the information is so incorrect," said Sharon Murchison, who has multiple incarcerated family members. "I can recall going back and forth and looking at it and going, 'something is off.'"