Florida governor suggests scaling back frequency of reporting COVID cases

Florida governor suggests scaling back frequency of reporting COVID cases Each day the Florida Department of Health updates a dashboard that tracks the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the state. Amanda Dukes WESH

ORLANDO, Fla. —

Each day the Florida Department of Health updates a dashboard that tracks the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the state.

It also sends out a release saying how many cases and deaths were counted from the previous day.

With Florida now in Phase 3 of reopening, Gov. Ron DeSantis has suggested scaling back on the frequency of its reporting.

In an email to WESH 2 News, the governor's spokesman said, "There are discussions ongoing as to when (is) the best time to scale back the report frequency. The reasoning behind it is because it requires 24 hour staffing. Information won't change and quality of the data will remain paramount."

Advocates for those vulnerable to COVID-19 say now is not the time to back off on sharing information.

"Florida may be in stage three, but we're certainly starting to see cases trend up again,” Sam Brooks said. Brooks is with Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care.

Brooks says the daily data is vital when it comes to policy and decision making in the fight against COVID-19.  ...