CEDARVILLE, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced that Ohio deaths related to COVID-19 are about a third higher than previously thought, with close to 4,000 deaths of people infected with the virus apparently uncounted.

“You’ll see a big change in deaths,” DeWine said during his biweekly presentation, referring to data from the state’s online dashboard, which now lists confirmed deaths at 11,104 and total deaths including those probably related to COVID-19 at 12,577. The 4,000 are being added. “This was an error that was made. … The reconciliation was not taking place. We had a big surge in deaths. They all did not get reconciled the way it should have happened. We found out about it recently and now they’re being reconciled over the next few days. You’ll see a jump today, tomorrow, maybe the next day. We’re not sure exactly how many days it’s going to take, but you’re going to see a distorted number.”

There were 720 deaths reported Thursday. DeWine said about 650 of these newly reported deaths likely came from efforts to correct the under-reporting. He said 71 was the expected number of deaths Thursday.

The reporting and recording flaws apparently began in October, with most issues occurring in November and December. The updated numbers will also include the appropriate dates of deaths.

During DeWine’s broadcast on the Ohio Channel, Stephanie McCloud, director of the Ohio Department of Health, answered questions about the reliability of other numbers such as total cases and hospitalizations.

“I was the first one to push back, because that number (of deaths) didn’t seem correct with me. I had concerns about it,” McCloud said. “We are working with staff. We have been working with staff to understand the process, the points of entry for death data.”

McCloud said like many other states, Ohio has two “points of entry” for death data.

“It’s really the reconciliation of that data that was not done timely and there was a miss there that created these numbers,” she said, adding her office has since restructured the Bureau of Infectious Diseases including leadership, and have devoted additional resources to correct the numbers.

“We’re working on a new process, a quality assurance process, going forward,” she said, adding she was also launching an administrative review to determine why this was not flagged sooner.

“Departments of health, whether local or state, have not really in the past been organized to report things in real time, and that has created some issues,” she said, adding other states such as Indiana, Washington and Texas have had similar issues.

Accurate numbers related to the pandemic are a high priority with DeWine’s office, particularly as it relates to hospitalizations. He has said the number of people hospitalized is directly tied to the state curfew, since one of DeWine’s chief concerns is not overwhelming health care workers.

The curfew expired at noon Thursda,y and DeWine said it has been lifted since hospitalizations have remained at fewer than 2,500 for seven consecutive days. There are now fewer than 1,800 people hospitalized with the virus.

“So there’s no curfew. We may in the future, we don’t know, have to put a curfew back on. We certainly hope we do not, but it’s very important … for us to continue doing what we’re doing,” he said, encouraging precautions such as mask wearing and social distancing and the ongoing vaccination of Ohio’s older and more vulnerable residents, as well as school staff.

DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted also addressed widespread instances of fraud, including a 200-percent spike in fraudulent potential unemployment claims filed last week, totalling more than 140,000 compared to earlier weekly claims of close to 48,000. Husted said 44,000 were initially flagged for suspicion of fraud and investigations continue.

“It’s a national problem. We’re very concerned by it,” DeWine said.

“When you have this problem, it will slow up the process for … many of the legitimate claims,” Husted said, adding more information would be available next week. “International cyber fraud activity is something that the private sector’s dealing with, it’s something that the public sector’s dealing with.”

Husted added since last Friday, the state has paid out $190 million to 372,000 Ohioans receiving unemployment assistance. In the last 11 days, the state has sent $326 million to 586,000 Ohioans.

Locally, Belmont County Deputy Health Director Robert Sproul reported 5,142 total cases, with 422 people isolated at home with active cases, 59 hospitalized and 4,568 recoveries. A total of 93 residents have died after being infected with the virus. The latest death was a woman in her 50s. Her death was reported Thursday.

Harrison County’s deaths are at 18. In Jefferson County, 89 people have died after being infected, and in Monroe County, 36 people have died after contracting the virus.