The Florida Department of Health has a transparency problem — and that’s not OK

The Florida Department of Health has a transparency problem.

Whether that’s intentional or just by way of ineptitude isn’t clear, but either way, it’s a major problem.

Inconsistencies in reporting and inaccuracies in data make it nearly impossible for journalists to do their jobs. At Florida Politics, and no doubt in newsrooms across the state, reporters are scheduling their days around expected crucial reports.

We’re tracking daily, even hourly changes, to identify trends. We have reporters analyzing local data to establish individual regional trends. We’re comparing that data to testing capabilities to see if reported cases might be underrepresented. That’s likely the case in Pinellas County where they’ve tested only just over half the number of people Hillsborough has tested, potentially accounting for the disparity in numbers between the two neighboring counties.

Without consistent reporting and accurate data, that reporting becomes much more difficult and, possibly, less meaningful.

Over the past week the department has changed the way it reports coronavirus cases and data on almost daily basis. The dashboard showing county-by-county data has changed color, format and which data gets reported. It no longer includes total statewide cases, rather only highlights cases among Florida residents.

Numbers have changed from one moment to the next. A detailed report showing the most recent data and trends will at one minute show one set of data and in the next another.

The agency’s reporting schedule has also changed, beginning with 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. updates daily until those reports started dropping later and later, forcing the agency to finally threw in the towel and changed its reports to noon and 7 p.m.

The numbers it reports also change. For example, the agency reported four deaths related to COVID-19 in Orange County before rolling it back to three. In some instances, the DOH data doesn’t match up with local reporting. That’s the case in Broward County where the state lists three deaths, but reporting by the Sun Sentinel shows the number should be seven.

In one report this week, Orange County death showed an age range of infected individuals going up to 121-years old. The department later confirmed it was an error, but the mistake remained on the site for hours.

The DOH knows they have a problem. Several of our reporters have emailed or called several times asking about changes to the website. The inquiries have been met with vague answers and direction to some other report in some other place. Asked why the repeated changes, we got crickets.

It’s starting to look like an intentional attempt to hide, or at least confuse, the severity of this pandemic in Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to begin rolling back business restrictions as soon as possible to minimize the negative effects on Florida’s economy.

Make no mistake, so do we. Everyone does!

But that simply cannot be done until Florida has an accurate picture of how may people are infected and where they are located. And that’s why, until we have that data, restrictions on social interaction are imperative.

The only way to reduce the need for those restrictions is to test, test, test and test some more.

Hiding data doesn’t change the data. And not getting the data doesn’t mean there’s not a problem.

If what DeSantis wants is to avoid an economic catastrophe he should make his administration as transparent as possible, increase testing and make the resulting data available, not only to the media, but to government officials, health care providers and members of the public in a way that’s easy to follow and understand.

Until that happens, solutions will be fleeting.