Florida officials accused of manipulating coronavirus numbers by former department of health employe

[RandySF]

As Florida continues to deal with skyrocketing coronavirus cases, the state is facing renewed criticism from the woman who designed Florida’s official COVID-19 database.

Rebekah Jones, a former employee of the Florida Department of Health (DOH), said in May she was ousted from her role as manager of the COVID-19 dashboard for refusing to manually change data in a way to support the state’s plan to reopen. The state claims Jones was fired for insubordination.

In response, Jones designed her own dashboard, one that uses state data but offers several other metrics, including hospital bed availability by facility. Jones’s platform, unlike Florida’s, includes figures of out-of-state residents who die of COVID-19 in the state.

On Tuesday, Jones took to Twitter to make several accusations against the state’s handling of coronavirus data.




https://thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/natural-disasters/504800-florida-officials-accused-of-manipulating

[Phoenix61]

1. I can see why they wouldn't want to include

out of state residents. We have a lot of retirees who live here part time. No wonder she said no.

[stillcool]

2. there have been plenty of articles...

from various parts of the state about the non-reporting of cases. It is interesting when you look at the states, and take note of the number of cases, and the number of deaths. State after state, don't have to even see what state it its. There are some that just don't make sense. Florida is one. If I go on vacation and I die, where do I die?

[Roland99]

3. She's not a trustworthy person

HOWEVER, she is likely right about an undercounting of deaths (altho the methods may not be what she's claiming)

FL interestingly shows a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of only 3.2% while Nationwide and Worldwide averages are about 5.2%. How can FL's CFR be so much lower?

[Indykatie]

4. The Ratio of Deaths to Cases is Suspiciously Low in TX and FL

Republicans and right leaning journos stress the low number of deaths as being the only metric that really matters which is stupid. The death count can be easily manipulated by only counting those deaths that had a COVID test prior to death or as we have in FL don't count Snowbirds or part-time residents. Those Snowbirds, part-timers and vacationers can end up being hospitalized and die in FL and treated just like full time residents. They should be included as part of the Florida death count.