ROGERS CITY — A case of COVID-19 was detected in Presque Isle County, the state reported Friday, though local health officials said they could not confirm that information and county emergency officials said the state made a mistake, illustrating some of the problems with tracking the spread of the global disease.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, District Health Department No. 4 was unable to confirm a positive test anywhere in Alpena, Montmorency, or Presque Isle counties. No notification of a positive result had been received from the state before the state’s numbers were posted at 3 p.m., Cathy Goike, public health educator with District Health Department No. 4, said in an email.

“We have not been contacted, it has not been verified with us, it is not in our reporting system,” Goike said.

The Presque Isle County Office of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post around 5 p.m. there was “an error in documentation” and there was no Presque Isle County case, though that office issued no press release and there was no release from the Health Department after 5 p.m.

The state’s database still listed a Presque Isle County case as of 10 p.m.

If state information is correct, it is the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Alpena region.

No further information was available about the person who may have tested positive.

Further investigation into other state numbers has resulted in a change to the state’s online COVID-19 reporting, Goike said, usually as dual-residency is confirmed or a data input error is detected.

The state numbers, updated daily at michigan.gov/coronavirus, have caused some confusion.

As of Friday, for example, the state site reported no deaths in Cheboygan County and two in Emmet County, but District Health Department No. 4 had reported Thursday a Cheboygan County man had died at McLaren Northern Michigan in Petoskey.

State reporting methods, which list patients’ county of residence rather than the actual location of the patient, also cause some confusion. In the early days of the outbreak in Michigan, a woman from Charlevoix County was reported as testing positive, although media later reported she was hospitalized downstate and had never re-entered her home county after being exposed to the virus.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, 125 tests had been submitted to the state from Alpena, Presque Isle, Montmorency, and Cheboygan counties, with 29 results pending, 91 negative results received, and five positive cases and one death in Cheboygan County.

In Alcona County, 20 tests were submitted by Friday afternoon, with 15 pending and five tests reported as negative, according to District Health Department No. 2.

Across Michigan, nearly 13,000 confirmed positive tests and 500 deaths were reported by the state Friday. Most of those cases are in Southeast Michigan.

Hand-washing, avoiding touching the face, and staying away from other people are the best ways to stop the spread of the coronavirus, experts say.

Anyone who experiences the symptoms of COVID-19, the sickness caused by coronavirus, is advised to stay home and call their doctor for guidance. Symptoms include fever, coughing, and shortness of breath.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, the Associated Press reported. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.