On Thursday, Florida reported over 5,500 new cases of COVID-19—and the day isn’t over yet. The number is higher than anything the state has posted since the first half of August, but it reflects a fresh surge that’s keeping the state at an average of around 100 deaths per day and steadily moving it up the Worst States charts. In the next two days, Florida will likely pass New Jersey to take over the No. 4 slot in total deaths. It’s already reached the No. 3 spot in total cases. And it’s by far the largest state when it comes to the top 10 in cases per population.
What’s a Donald Trump-loving, science-hating Republican governor to do? Well, Ron DeSantis has already been trying to follow Trump’s advice to do less testing. Florida is currently testing at the lowest rate of any state, with just one test per 1,000 residents. With cases skyrocketing despite the lowest rate of testing in the nation, DeSantis has only one choice: He has to get sensible, order a statewide mask mandate, cut down mass gatherings, and place restrictions on bars and restaurants.
Except DeSantis isn’t going to do any of that. Because he’s come up with an alternative: He’s going to stop reporting the numbers.
As WFLA 8 reports, DeSantis says it’s time to “scale back the report frequency.” He’s promising that the data will still be collected. It just won’t be … visible. If daily data is too much for people to stand, just how often would DeSantis share what’s happening in his state? He doesn’t say.
Epidemiologists warned that not having numbers from Florida would mean losing visibility of the epidemic in one of the nation’s most populous states. That could affect everything from local hospital planning, to restrictions and considerations in other states. Taking Florida off the books would place an enormous hole in the nationwide understanding of what is going on, and open the possibility that the state is becoming an even bigger hotspot while covering up the truth.
This is just another step along the cover-up path for DeSantis. Back in May, he ordered county medical examiners to stop releasing daily reports on deaths. This information had been available since … ever, but is no longer visible. Instead, deaths are reported after being massaged by DeSantis’ team at the state level.
That same month, DeSantis also forced analysts to change numbers on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. A month later, he fired the data scientist who created that dashboard and cut back on the information being provided. DeSantis’ updated version of the dashboard removed information on hospital admissions, emergency room admissions, and available ICU beds. And since Trump took the daily reporting from hospitals away from the Centers for Disease Control and handed it over to a private company owned by a Republican donor, there are good reasons to doubt that any information coming out of Florida is accurate.
This is fine .. this is all fine. People in Florida surely won’t be concerned about having data on a deadly disease hidden from them.
Vote appropriately, Florida.