Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Florida Health Department Worker Claims She Was Fired For Refusing To Manipulate COVID Data
Miami Herald: Florida’s Coronavirus-19 Data Guru Says She Was Censored
The state official managing Florida’s public “dashboard” of COVID-19 data says that her office has been removed from the project — and questioned the Department of Health’s commitment to “accessibility and transparency.” Rebekah Jones, the geographic information system manager for DOH’s Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, wrote in an email, distributed Friday that authority over the dashboard was taken away from her office on May 5. The sharply worded email, which was shared with the Herald by a recipient of the message, was addressed to users of the state’s data portal, which includes researchers and journalists. It was not clear who replaced her and her staff. (Wieder, 5/18)
USA Today Network: Florida Scientist Fired For Refusing To 'Manipulate' COVID-19 Data
Rebekah Jones said in an email to the USA TODAY Network that she single-handedly created two applications in two languages, four dashboards, six unique maps with layers of data functionality for 32 variables covering a half a million lines of data. Her objective was to create a way for Floridians and researchers to see what the COVID-19 situation was in real time. Then, she was dismissed. "I worked on it alone, sixteen hours a day for two months, most of which I was never paid for, and now that this has happened I'll probably never get paid for," she wrote in an email, confirming that she had not just been reassigned on May 5, but fired from her job as Geographic Information Systems manager for the Florida Department of Health. (Marazzi Sassoon, 5/19)
The Wall Street Journal: Florida Health Department Worker Ousted After Warnings Over Covid-19 Data
“As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months,” she wrote. “After all, my commitment to both is largely (arguably entirely) the reason I am no longer managing it.” Ms. Jones didn’t respond to a request for comment. A statement provided on Tuesday by Helen Aguirre Ferré, the spokeswoman for Gov. Ron DeSantis, said the health department decided to terminate Ms. Jones was terminated because she was “disruptive.” (Campo-Flores, 5/19)
NPR: Florida Ousts Top COVID-19 Data Scientist
Jones' removal from the project and her subsequent dismissal have raised questions about the impartiality and transparency of Florida's COVID-19 dashboard. Ben Sawyer, director of LabX at the University of Central Florida, which is investigating how local health systems are coping with COVID-19 cases, said her ouster is "quite disturbing to me as a scientist and as a citizen." "Regardless of what you think about reopening Florida, you would like to know what's going on," Sawyer said. "This data is our ability to see what's happening. I think there are enormous questions that arise when you don't know if what you see [is] fair or accurate." (Allen, 5/19)
CNN: Florida And Georgia Questioned Over Public Access To Covid-19 Data
Florida and Georgia, two states that were among the first to announce the reopening of businesses and public spaces amid the health crisis, have come under scrutiny for their reporting on Covid-19 cases. In Florida, Rebekah Jones, the official behind the state's "dashboard," a web page showing the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Florida that's been praised by Dr. Deborah Birx, says she was removed from the project and questioned the state's commitment to accessibility and transparency, according to Florida Today. In Georgia, data tracking Covid-19 cases in the state has come under question after a misleading chart was posted on the state Department of Public Health's web page, according to an article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (Waldrop, Flores and Sutton, 5/20)
The Associated Press: States Accused Of Fudging Or Bungling COVID-19 Testing Data
Public health officials in some states are accused of bungling coronavirus infection statistics or even using a little sleight of hand to deliberately make things look better than they are. The risk is that politicians, business owners and ordinary Americans who are making decisions about lockdowns, reopenings and other day-to-day matters could be left with the impression that the virus is under more control than it actually is. (Smith, Long and Amy, 5/20)
The Associated Press: 'New Normal' Anything But As Countries Continue To Reopen
The risk is that politicians, business owners and ordinary Americans who are making decisions about lockdowns and other day-to-day matters could be left with the impression that the virus is under more control than it actually is. In Virginia, Texas and Vermont, for example, officials said they have been combining the results of viral tests, which show an active infection, with antibody tests, which show a past infection. Public health experts say that can make for impressive-looking testing totals but does not give a true picture of how the virus is spreading. (Blake and Smith, 5/20)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Metro Atlanta Make COVID-19 Decisions With Shaky Data
The data behind Georgia’s count of COVID-19 cases and deaths is being gathered in the most suboptimal of scientific circumstances: real life. But whether the data is perfect or not, and there are reasons to believe it is not perfect, metro Atlanta leaders are using those numbers to make decisions that affect everyone, like when city hall re-opens or which neighborhood gets extra testing today. The numbers aren’t clean-cut or unimpeachable, but officials are going to war with the numbers they have. (Brasch, Estep, Peebles, Coyne and Dixon, 5/20)
Kaiser Health News: Tennessee’s Secret To Plentiful Coronavirus Testing? Picking Up The Tab
To reopen businesses and public spaces safely, experts say, states need to be testing and contact tracing on a massive scale. But only a handful of states are doing enough testing to stay on top of potential outbreaks, according to a state-by-state analysis published by NPR. Among those, Tennessee stands out for its aggressive approach to testing. In Tennessee, anyone who wants a test can get one, and the state will pick up the tab. The guidance has evolved to “when in doubt, get a test,” and the state started paying for it in April. (Farmer, 5/20)
