Extreme policies, average statistics raise questions around Florida’s Covid-19 data

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, policy decisions in Florida have been among the most extreme — often among the first, the only or the few. Florida was one of the first states to roll back capacity restrictions on restaurants and bars and require schools to offer in-person learning. It is one of a few states that never implemented a mask mandate, blocking local jurisdictions from enforcing mask-related rules.

However, various Covid-19 data points peg the state right in the middle of the pack. According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, Florida has had the 27th most Covid-19 cases and deaths per capita out of the 50 states overall.

research found that “the impact of COVID-19 on mortality is significantly greater than the official COVID-19 data suggest.” Nearly 5,000 excess deaths in Florida between March and September 2020 are “unexplained,” according to the study.

However, a CNN analysis of excess mortality data published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that’s another data point in which Florida is just about average.

This isn’t the first time Florida’s official Covid-19 data has faced scrutiny.

In May, Rebekah Jones, a data scientist who helped create the state’s Covid-19 data dashboard, was fired from her role with the state health department. Jones claims she was fired after refusing to falsify state Covid-19 data, though state officials say it was due to a “repeated course of insubordination.”

Jones has harshly criticized Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic and filed a whistleblower complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations.

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