Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The woman behind the Florida Department of Health’s widely praised COVID-19 dashboard was pushed out of her job this month for unknown reasons, though the data scientist lends credibility to fears the ouster was political.
Rebekah Jones sent an email blast last week announcing her reassignment and telling dashboard subscribers not to expect “the same level of accessibility and transparency” from the dashboard going forward, adding that her ouster was due to her unwillingness to tweak the data to downplay the virus’ spread.
Though she was removed May 5, her removal made headlines Monday as the state entered “full Phase One” of reopening the economy due to data trends indicating it was safe to take the next step.
The outcry from researchers and transparency advocates has hit a fever pitch over the past 24 hours. Now, Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo is calling for a full and independent investigation.
“Allegations that Florida’s government may have tried to manipulate or alter data to make reopening appear safer is outrageous. These kinds of actions are dangerous and, frankly, should be criminal. An independent investigation into these allegations is needed immediately,” Rizzo said. “Meanwhile, city and state officials across Florida should closely monitor the situation to protect the public’s health.”
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases
— 45,684 FL residents (+476 since Monday)
— 1,260 Non-FL residents (+26 since Monday)
Origin:
— 2,027 Travel related
— 20,262 Contact with a confirmed case
— 1,893 Both
— 21,502 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 8,494 in FL
Deaths:
— 2,052 in FL
Unemployment numbers
As of Monday:
Total claims: 2,032,397
— Confirmed unique claims: 1,741,076
— Claim verification queue: 172,770
— Claims processed: 1,468,306
— Claims paid: 975,656 (+78,735 since Sunday)
Total paid out: $2.66 billion (+$580 million since Sunday)
Evening Reads
“As Florida begins to reopen state businesses, data shows no significant drop in COVID-19 case numbers” via Ivan Pereira of ABC News
“Florida has cases of child illness tied to COVID-19” via Christine Sexton of the News Service of Florida
“Florida Health Department officials told manager to delete coronavirus data before reassigning her, emails show” via Langston Taylor of the Tampa Bay Times
“Floridians lose patience with state’s unemployment claims system” via Alex Leary of The Wall Street Journal
“Dear Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis: Stop forcing parents to be teachers” via Diane Rado of the Florida Phoenix
“Pinellas County to reopen movie theaters, setting up potential clash with DeSantis” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics
“State approves short term rentals in the Panhandle” via Brady Calhoun of WFLA
“When cruises from Florida reopen, many popular destination ports wonder when and whether to welcome back tourists” via Ken Storey of Orlando Weekly
“Florida Attorney General to federal judge: Drop the Michael Flynn case” via Kirby Wilson of the Tampa Bay Times
“Floridians support voting changes, but poll reveals partisan divide” via Gary Fineout of POLITICO
“Tina Polsky to launch SD 29 bid paired with Kevin Rader’s endorsement” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics
“Republican candidates seeking Florida House seats are winning fundraising battle” via Kirby Wilson of the Tampa Bay Times
Quote of the Day
“I’m not pulling our primary resource for coronavirus data because he wants to stick it to journalists and make them copy and paste from the tables in the pdfs. If it’s in the dashboard, it’s public. Period. There is no way around that.” — Rebekah Jones, pushing back on an order to shroud state coronavirus data.
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