Nikki Fried accuses Ron DeSantis of delaying COVID-19 data to CDC

After criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis for scaling back public reporting of COVID-19 data and instituting her own public COVID-19 briefings, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is now accusing DeSantis of delaying the state’s COVID-19 reporting to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fried continued Monday with her independent COVID-19 briefings in the absence of daily data from the Florida Department of Health.

But there were no new COVID-19 numbers to share, Fried said, because the state Health Department has not sent updated COVID-19 data to the CDC since Friday.

“Our Governor, the Florida Department of Health, should be giving daily reporting numbers. It’s 2:30 on Monday, we have nothing reported since Friday,” Fried said.

“Until which time the Department of Health releases their numbers to the CDC, we don’t have ours,” Fried explained.

The state’s lag in sending COVID-19 data to the CDC, according to Fried, is at DeSantis’ direction.

In a tweet after the press conference Fried, from her campaign’s Twitter account, said the lack of data was “by choice of the governor.”

Today's Florida COVID update is without new data, by choice of the governor.

So I'm asking him to immediately issue an emergency order to draw in federal resources, report daily, & join me in urging everyone to get vaccinated so we can end this pandemic. Video via @FOX13News. pic.twitter.com/JZUWrIYF6e

— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) August 2, 2021

At DeSantis’ direction, the state Health Department moved to weekly COVID-19 reporting in June. But as far as the Governor directing the department to delay COVID-19 data, that’s not even possible, according to a Health Department spokesperson.

Communications Director Weesam Khoury said in a written statement the data is automatically sent from the department to CDC and any delays are due to processing on the CDC’s end.

“This is absolutely inaccurate and baseless. The Florida Department of Health routinely and automatically reports COVID-19 data Monday through Friday. Public health surveillance and controlling the spread of infectious diseases have always been core functions of the Department. That has not changed,” read Khoury’s statement in part.

Khoury also said the CDC, starting June 28, stopped requesting weekend data and instead asks states to send cumulative COVID data on Mondays.

DeSantis’s press secretary, Christina Pushaw, wrote in a text message, in part:

“Governor DeSantis does not interfere with DOH’s COVID data collection and reporting. This is a long-time conspiracy theory that is often repeated by the Governor’s critics without evidence.”

Fried, also at Monday’s press conference, called on DeSantis to declare a state of emergency to help draw federal dollars to the state to deal with the surge in COVID cases. She pointed to data from the Florida Hospital Association that showed a record-breaking number of coronavirus hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic.

“I’m asking our Governor to please declare a state of emergency so our state can stand up more testing and more vaccination sites using federal dollars,” Fried said.

DeSantis in 2020 declared a state of emergency over the COVID-19 crisis, but allowed that order to expire in late June.

Fried also criticized DeSantis for signing an executive order last week saying schools could not require students to wear masks next school year.

“The Governor should be doing what I’m doing: Promoting vaccines, going across our state having these real conversations with our communities that their numbers are through the roof — especially in our rural communities — not tying the hands of our local governments and our local school boards, who are just trying to do right by their people,” Fried said.

Information on vaccines in Florida, including locations of vaccination sites, can be found through the Florida Department of Health vaccine locator.