The Pennsylvania Department of Health backtracked on reporting probable COVID-19 deaths in its data overnight, causing Butler County's death toll to drop by one and state total by more than 200.

Newly released figures showed that Butler County did not see an increase in positive cases, staying at 164, but saw an increase in negative tests reported by 68 to 1,944.

However the county's death toll changed from seven deaths reported Wednesday to six reported deaths Thursday.

Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the issues in the data came from probable deaths, which had been removed from the data reported Thursday, after they were added in Wednesday's report.

“These cases were previously reported as probable, but further review has determined that we needed further information before we could attribute them to a death related to COVID-19,” Levine said.

Levine said in some cases, after more information was gathered about the deceased, they were reallocated into another county's statistic.

“We were able to verify that the correct county of residence was different than where they passed away,” she said.

It was unclear which of these circumstances affected Butler County, and Levine said she did not have the information to explain what happened in any particular county, but she did say that the large decrease in statewide deaths was largely attributed to the removal of probable deaths from the count.

In Wednesday's release, the department reported a total death figure of 1,622 statewide. This statistic included both confirmed COVID-19 deaths and probable COVID-19 deaths. The latter being someone whose death certificate says COVID-19, but they did not have a positive test while they were alive.

On Thursday, the department's report included 1,394 as a figure for the state's confirmed deaths, a drop of 228 deaths.

Earlier this week the state saw some huge jumps in cases and deaths, which was described as data consolidation and the inclusion of probable deaths into statewide data. Levine said at the time that it brought the state more in line with the way the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps its data.

“We continue to refine the data that we are collecting to provide everyone this information in as near time as we possibly can,” she said. “This is difficult with thousands of reports each day.”

Color-coded system

While the main issue addressed at Thursday's news conference was the differing data, there also were questions raised about Gov. Tom Wolf's announcement Wednesday night of a color-coded tier system that will be used to loosen restrictions on the state's businesses and residents.

On Thursday, Wolf said the main metric the state would be using to determine a region's color — red, yellow or green — would be a look at a 14-day period, where they hope to see 50 cases or less per 100,000 people.

“I want to emphasize to make the data-driven decisions that we are making and the governor is making, we actually rely on confirmed case counts,” Levine said.

Levine also addressed questions about whether the reopenings will occur county-by-county in the same way that they were closed or in larger regions made up of multiple counties.

Levine pointed to the later, but when prodded by questions from the media, she revealed that a regional map is not yet available to the public.

“We're working on all of that as we speak, but we're not there until May 8,” she said.

The following data about the coronavirus pandemic is compiled daily from the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s website and regular releases from Butler Health System.Thursday’s COVID-19 statistics are as follows:Butler CountyConfirmed cases: 164Negative tests: 1,944Deaths: 6*PennsylvaniaNew cases: 1,369Total cases: 37,053New deaths: N/A*Total deaths: 1,394*Negative tests: 142,061Butler Memorial HospitalInpatients: 10Suspected: 4Confirmed: 6ICU: 0Total tests: 2,341Outdoor tests: 1,736Positive tests: 185Clarion HospitalInpatients: 2Suspected: 0Confirmed: 2ICU: 1Total tests: 527Outdoor tests: 436Positive tests: 20Surrounding CountiesAllegheny: 1,149 confirmed cases, 12,625 negative test results, and 69* deathsWestmoreland: 307 confirmed, 3,801 negative, and 17* deathsBeaver: 319 confirmed, 1,667 negative, and 46* deathsLawrence: 61 confirmed, 585 negative, and 5* deathsMercer: 60 confirmed, 560 negative, and 1 deathArmstrong: 43 confirmed, 552 negative, and 2 deathsClarion: 20 confirmed, 391 negative, and 1 deathVenango: 7 confirmed and 199 negativeThe state Department of Health reported figures on Wednesday that included probable deaths of COVID-19, which inflated some death totals. As of noon Thursday, the department reverted to using only confirmed deaths in their figures.