California's top public health official Dr. Sonia Angell resigned Sunday, as read in a copy of her resignation obtained by CBS News.

The health official did not provide a reason for her resignation, but it came after California saw a major error in test result reporting. The errors have been fixed but the state is now seeing a lot of back log due to the glitch.

Dr. Sonia Angell
(Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Former California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sonia Angell speaks during a news conference at the California Department of Public Health on February 27, 2020 in Sacramento, California.

When asked during a news conference about the sudden resignation, California Governor Gavin Newsom declined to answer if he told the health official to quit, NBC reported.

He dodged questions on it but stressed the importance of transparency and accountability, reported ABC News. He also thanked Dr. Angell for her service to the state and for her work in helping steer the state's public health system amid the global pandemic.

Angell has worked as the director of the state Department of Public Health, often appearing next to Newsom during news conferences about the coronavirus. She was hired less than a year ago, as stated in her letter.

Data Glitch Fixed

Two days before Dr. Angell handed in her resignation, California's health officials announced that they had fixed technical issues in their system.

According to California Health and Human Services Secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly said the glitch caused about 300,000 records backlogged. He did add, though, that not all of the test results may be linked to the coronavirus, and some may be duplicates, CBS San Francisco reported.

The backlog caused what appeared to be a downward trend in virus cases in the state.

California, being the most populated stated in the country, now has more cases than New York since last month. It currently has the highest number of reported cases in the United States.

Ghaly told the media that the data glitch began when a computer server suffered from an outage on July 25. The state also failed to renew a certificate for a commercial lab that tests for coronavirus.

In the meantime, Newsom ordered a full investigation on the glitch.

No Effects to Downward Trend

Newsom said the data doesn't appear to change the downward trend he announced last week.

As of Monday, the state's hospitalizations went down 19% over two weeks, and ICU admissions also went down 13%.

Following the glitch, the state will work out a new positivity rate, which is the key indicator of how far the virus has spread. This piece of data will be used to find out if schools should reopen.

Health Officials Resigning Amid Pandemic

Dr. Angell's resignation comes after many other public health officials have also stepped away from the office or have been fired.

According to a review by Associated Press and Kaiser Health News, 49 health officials in 23 states have been fired or have quit since April.

The review linked the many resignations to conflicts over mask orders and shutdowns. Other health officials chose to step away from the office due to family reasons.

Some officials said they quit because they were overworked or underpaid.

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