Former COVID-19 data chief: Outbreak ‘much worse’ in Florida than DeSantis administration lets on

Rebekah Jones, the Florida data scientist who in May claimed that she was fired for refusing to manipulate state coronavirus data to meet the Republican governor’s reopening criteria, has issued a new warning: The ongoing outbreak is “much, much worse” than it has been painted by the administration.

In a Monday interview with MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell, Jones, who built the state government’s coronavirus data portal, identified a number of failures since she left her state job. Florida recently posted the highest daily caseload in a single day across all 50 U.S. states.

For instance, the southern state combined antibody test data with viral test data. Salon reported in May that the practice, which can obscure hotspots and misrepresent percentages, warps data not only at the state level. It may also trickle up to the national level at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading.