Because of a change to a different reporting system by the state Department of Health, the statistics for the death toll from the coronavirus for counties has changed. While some death tolls, Butler County's included, suddenly increased, others, like Beaver County's, decreased.

The Butler County's death toll remained at six from April 21 to May 18, according to data reported by the Department of Health. In the department's report Tuesday, however, it changed the way it presented deaths. Coinciding with this change, Butler County's death toll doubled from six to 12.

On the other hand, neighboring Beaver County's deaths stood at 83 as of Monday, but dropped to 70 on Tuesday.

During Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine's news conference Monday, she mentioned the shift from the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System to the Electronic Death Registration System. Department spokeswoman Maggi Mumma said Butler County's change in the total number of deaths related to the coronavirus stems from this change.

Mumma said the department also changed the way its data appears daily. The data regarding long-term care facilities and the death statistics are now broken into their own tabulations rather than lumped into the daily report of case counts.

It was also clarified that before Tuesday, deaths in long-term care facilities reflected differently. Before Tuesday, a long-term care facility resident's death was counted toward the county's total in which the facility was physically located.

Hoverer, starting Tuesday, if a person living in a long-term care facility died, but maintained residency in another county, then their death would be recorded in the county of their residence instead. This would then mirror what would appear on the person's death record, and it also aligns with CDC guidelines.

“This transition to the new death data reporting system will cause some shifts in data on the death data page,” Mumma said.

The following numbers on the coronavirus pandemic are compiled daily from the Pennsylvania Department of Health's website and regular releases from Butler Health System.

Tuesday's COVID-19 statistics:

Confirmed cases: 206Negative tests: 3,117Deaths: 12

New cases: 610Total cases: 63,666New deaths: 119Total deaths: 4,624Negative tests: 286,034

Surrounding CountiesAllegheny: 1,658 confirmed cases; 23,485 negative test results; and 145 deathsArmstrong: 58 confirmed; 997 negative; and 2 deathsBeaver: 534 confirmed; 2,809 negative; and 70 deathsClarion: 24 confirmed; 590 negative; and 2 deathLawrence: 73 confirmed; 1,025 negative; and 8 deathsMercer: 96 confirmed; 1,187 negative; and 4 deathsVenango: 8 confirmed and 37 negativeWestmoreland: 431 confirmed; 7,434 negative; and 38 deaths* The total number of cases includes confirmed and probable cases.* The total deaths and new deaths include only confirmed deaths, which is a person who tested positive for the virus before their death.