Is Florida considering not releasing daily COVID-19 numbers?
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health has been releasing daily COVID-19 numbers since the beginning of the pandemic, usually around 11 a.m.
But several news outlets reported this week that Gov. Ron DeSantis was considering pulling back on releasing those daily cases, deaths, and hospitalizations.
According to NewsNation, DeSantis’ Press Secretary Cody McCloud wrote in an email this week: “There are discussions ongoing as to when the best time to scale back the report frequency. The reasoning behind it is because it requires 24-hour staffing. Information won’t change and quality of the data will remain paramount."
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FOX 35 News reached out to McCloud for clarification, who responded in an email.
"This has been blown out of proportion. There are no plans to scale back in the near future."
Meanwhile, with reported COVID-19 deaths of Florida residents topping 16,000 this week, the state Department of Health said Wednesday that information about fatalities needs a “more rigorous review.”
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Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, who serves as the department’s secretary, said the state took a deeper look at 95 COVID-19 deaths.
In 16 cases, it found more than a two-month time frame between when people tested positive for COVID-19 and the actual deaths. Also, another 11 deaths were more than 30 days old when they were reported to the state, according to the health department.
"During a pandemic, the public must be able to rely on accurate public health data to make informed decisions. To ensure the accuracy of COVID-19 related deaths, the department will be performing additional reviews of all deaths.” Rivkees said in a prepared statement. “Timely and accurate data remains a top priority of the Department of Health.”
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