The Florida Department of Health is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a correction after the federal health agency published false and misleading information regarding the state’s newly confirmed cases of COVID-19.
As part of standard procedure, the CDC reported the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases Florida experienced over the weekend, reporting that the Sunshine State saw more than 28,000 new cases on Sunday alone. According to local reporting, the number would represent the largest single-day number of cases ever reported in the state. As it turns out, however, the CDC’s numbers are blatantly false.
Following the CDC’s publication of the data, the Florida Department of Health took to Twitter to state that the federal agency had combined multiple days into one.
“This is not accurate,” the health department said. “Florida follows CDC guidelines reporting cases Monday through Friday, other than holidays. Consequently, each Monday or Tuesday, there will be two or three days of data reported at a time. When data is published, it is attributed evenly to the previous days.”
This is not accurate. Florida follows CDC guidelines reporting cases Monday through Friday, other than holidays. Consequently, each Monday or Tuesday, there will be two or three days of data reported at a time. When data is published, it is attributed evenly to the previous days. https://t.co/NjjUmIgM9h
— Florida Dept. of Health (@HealthyFla) August 10, 2021
The number of cases @CDCgov released for Florida today is incorrect. They combined MULTIPLE days into one. We anticipate CDC will correct the record. https://t.co/NjjUmIgM9h
— Florida Dept. of Health (@HealthyFla) August 10, 2021
The Florida Department of Health later went on to cite the correct numbers for the state, which shows daily totals of newly confirmed cases on the decline.
The daily case counts for Florida currently posted on the CDC COVID Tracker are incorrect. The current listing states 28,317.
The accurate data are as follows:
Friday, August 6: 21,500
Saturday August 7: 19,567
Sunday, August 8: 15,319The 3 day average: 18,795
— Florida Dept. of Health (@HealthyFla) August 10, 2021
In response, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw took to Twitter to address the matter.
“The Florida Department of Health routinely and automatically reports data on all reportable diseases including COVID & many more to the CDC,” Pushaw said. “The CDC publishes it. Why not ask why @CDCgov made this simple mistake? We expect they will correct it soon.”
The Florida Department of Health routinely and automatically reports data on all reportable diseases including COVID & many more to the CDC. The CDC publishes it. Why not ask why @CDCgov made this simple mistake? We expect they will correct it soon. https://t.co/trpXlbSyft
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) August 10, 2021
Within hours of the CDC’s initial reporting, Democrats were quick to launch a bevy of attacks against DeSantis, claiming the Republican governor has “lost all credibility.”
“The Governor and his apparatchiks within the Florida DOH have lost all credibility,” said state Rep. Omari Hardy. “This is what happens when you suppress the data and refuse to release daily infection totals directly to the public.”
https://twitter.com/OmariJHardy/status/1424895615452975107?s=20
“Ummmm… Florida just retracted their daily #COVID19 data that they had reported to the @CDCgov,” left-wing scientist Eric Feigl-Ding falsely claimed. “Well at least they admit it now. Waiting for more details.”
Eric Ding is a super-spreader of COVID disinformation. @HealthyFla did not retract anything. The CDC released an inaccurate figure. https://t.co/u3HcBRviNJ
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) August 10, 2021
The CDC has yet to issue a correction on the matter.
