Florida is ordered to publish Covid data for three more YEARS after DeSantis’ Administration ‘censored figures during pandemic’

Florida must release Covid data by 2027 and pay $150,000 in legal fees after being accused of covering up numbers during the pandemic.

The state Department of Health stopped releasing daily numbers on cases, deaths and hospitalizations in June 2021, saying vaccinations were not necessary.

But after the state rejected a public records request for the information, citing confidentiality, activists sued it.

An agreement has now been reached that will see the data published and the figures published for another three years. The ministry has not admitted any wrongdoing.

The Florida Department of Health has now agreed to a settlement that includes the release of Covid data and the payment of legal fees. Its governor is Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (pictured today).

The state Department of Health (pictured) stopped publishing daily numbers on cases, deaths and hospitalizations in June 2021 – saying vaccinations were not necessary.

The above shows the test positivity rate – the proportion of tests that detected the virus – in the first two years of the pandemic. The delta wave is represented by the peak between July 2021 and December of the same year

The above shows the number of Covid hospitalizations in Florida and shows that they also increased during the Delta wave in the state

Director of public access at the Florida Center for Government Accountability, Michael Barfield, who was involved in a lawsuit, said transparency and accountability are “non-negotiable” and “mandated” by the Constitution.

“The department hid public records during the height of the pandemic to fit the political narrative that Florida was open for business,” he said.

“The DeSantis administration ruled in our favor because they knew what they did was wrong.”

“We held them accountable, we demanded they be more transparent and release records they claimed didn’t exist, and we protected the public’s constitutional right to know.”

Orlando Rep. Carlos Smith, a Democrat who also helped file the lawsuit, said, “The department lied in court about the existence of these public records.”

“(The department) did everything it could to limit information and downplay the threat of Covid, even as the Delta variant hit Florida – a decision that cost many lives.”

Florida discontinued daily data updates and its Covid dashboard in June 2021 and switched to weekly reports.

It was said at the time that this was due to a higher vaccination rate and data suggested that cases in the state were falling – even as the Delta wave hit the US.

Rep. Smith, who was also a member of the Florida House of Representatives’ House Pandemics and Public Emergencies Committee (FLCGA), used a public records request in August 2021 to request data for his home district.

But when that was rejected, citing department confidentiality, he sued the state.

The FLCGA then requested daily data for all 67 Florida counties through a public records request, but when that too was denied, it also sued.

The Department of Health initially requested a protective order in January 2022 to prevent the data from being released, but a district judge blocked the request.

Officials then said the data did not exist.

But after an appeals court said an agency official had to answer questions under oath, the data was released in March 2023.

An agreement has now been reached whereby the ministry will publish Covid data in weekly reports for the next three years.

This includes vaccination numbers, case numbers and deaths by county, age group, gender and race.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health dismissed the lawsuit as a “political ploy.”

“It is unfortunate that we continue to waste government resources arguing about data formatting with epidemiologists who have no training or expertise,” he said.

The ministry says it has continued to share data with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The lawsuit was supported by publications including the Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Times and the First Amendment Foundation.

The Delta variant of Covid was first discovered in the United States in March 2023 and led to a surge in cases in July of that year.

But in September, daily Covid data updates were likened to “scaremongering” by some – arguing the vaccine rollout had “changed the game”.

Other states – including Nebraska and Kansas – also scaled back their daily numbers in mid-2021.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – and current Republican presidential candidate – has been repeatedly accused of using Covid data to support his policies.

In early May 2020 — when most of the world was still in lockdown and before vaccines were available — he reopened most of Florida for business, citing a “data-driven strategy” and containing infections.

Donald Trump was also able to point to Florida during the election campaign and thereby signal that America was open for business again.