DeSantis: Florida reporting county-level COVID data 'may not be a bad idea'
Source: Tampa Bay Times
DeSantis comments may signal a reversal from the way the state has reported cases for more than two months.
After weeks of hesitance from the state to release more detailed coronavirus case data, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signaled a willingness to reverse Floridas stance.
Cases and hospitalizations are skyrocketing across the state, but the trends are uneven, the governor said. Jacksonville has long gotten the worst of this summers surge, for example. Other areas in the state are reporting more sick patients, but some are nearer to their peaks than others, he said.
Given the regional pandemic differences, DeSantis said it may be time for Florida to report more detailed information than the case data published daily by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It is a huge state, and I think that these waves are not necessarily uniform, DeSantis said at a press conference in Jacksonville. With these daily cases, those are reported publicly every day to the CDC so people have access to that. But in terms of breaking it down by county, that may not be a bad idea going forward. I know we used to look at that a lot.
Read more: https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/08/12/desantis-florida-reporting-county-level-covid-data-may-not-be-a-bad-idea/
DeSantis may have just blinked.
dchill
(38,315 posts)SoCalDavidS
(9,998 posts)I know what you're saying about him blaming Biden for anything he can, but how would this relate to Biden?
peppertree
(21,526 posts)Give that greasy runt enough time, he'd find a way to blame Biden for Florida's mosquitoes.
IronLionZion
(45,253 posts)he's already blamed Biden's immigration policies for COVID in his state that doesn't have a border with Mexico.
lark
(22,995 posts)Saying Biden has done a terrible job convincing "Americans" (ie - right wing idiots) to get vaccinated so it's all his fault, not the fault of the repugs who pushed not to do this, of course.
Carlitos Brigante
(26,481 posts)of Covid infested "furriners"........ or some dumb shit like that. It actually hurts the brain to try to get into these assholes' mind set.
peppertree
(21,526 posts)Where Pete Racketts decreed that "no county with under 20,000 people need report any Covid data."
Being Nebraska, that's just about every county.
In deSantis' case, it may be "no county where daytime highs exceed 100° in August."
brush
(53,467 posts)Ya just know he's going manipulate whatever numbers are released to make his handling of the pandemic look good, probably by reporting low numbers of infections.
He can't be trusted. He's only saying he's willing to change and report numbers now because the numbers are spiking like crazy and his anti-mask and anti-vaxx stances make his handling of the delta variant look as bad as trump's bungling of the virus in the beginning.
crud
(608 posts)He shouldn't be the one to decide this.
peppertree
(21,526 posts)Rebekah Jones knows all about that.
DallasNE
(7,392 posts)Why did DeSantis stop looking at the County data? Is that how a good manager operates? I don't think so. Will he now give the County authority on mask mandates? Not without going back to the legislature to amend their draconian bill requiring a no-mask policy.
patphil
(6,024 posts)People will take just so much shit from bad leaders.
Municipalities and school systems in Florida are revolting over his asinine decrees regarding Covid.
I expect Florida will have a 30,000 case day soon, and DeSantis needs to modify his stance to maintain relevance.
His current stance could get him fired in the next election...bad for a presidential hopeful...can't carry his own state is pretty much a campaign killer.
Rural_Progressive
(1,105 posts)DeSatan hasn't been reporting the numbers of cases in the state daily for some time now. I'd settle for those, don't really care what counties they are coming out of just want the big picture information to help understand the trends nationally.
Phoenix61
(16,949 posts)Second- he hasnt figured out of it helps or hurts him.
louis-t
(23,199 posts)Start with that.