The number of deaths related to COVID-19 appears to be surging in Warren County.

Although the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced a total of six COVID-related deaths in its Wednesday update, Warren County Coroner Melissa Zydonik said the total is much higher.

“Right now, my records show that we have 21… for the month of December,” Zydonik said Wednesday.

When a document comes to the coroner’s office, it indicates one or more causes of death.

“The majority of what I have, the primary cause of death is listed as COVID,” Zydonik said.

For all of the others, COVID is listed among the causes, but not as the primary cause. “It’s a COVID-related death,” she said.

All of those 21 deaths were of people who had had positive COVID tests, she said.

Zydonik said she has not conducted those tests posthumously.

The department of health’s statistics for the county included one COVID-related death from July into December. The number grew to two on Dec. 7, to five on Dec. 12, and to six on Wednesday.

Asked earlier this month why the department’s reporting would not match with the coroner’s, a department representative said, “Data often is not finalized on our end until the death case is finalized. In addition, local coroners may have this data before it reaches the department. We would anticipate the data matching later in the week.”