. HARRISBURG â 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 agencyâs ability to accurately track the extent of the outbreak. 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 departmentâs data and had noticed problems. âItâs one thing to have little mistakes here and there, but if itâs month after month that thereâs many data reporting problems, it definitely causes me pause,â said Hope Johnson, a data fellow at UCLAâs COVID Behind Bars Project, which tracks COVID-19 infections in prisons nationwide.