The previous state information scientist, Rebekah Jones, claimed she was once careworn by means of well being division officers to falsify Covid-19 information to cover the level of Florida’s outbreak within the early months of the pandemic. In a document finalized in March, the state inspector common’s place of work mentioned there was once inadequate proof to end up her claims and exonerated the workers accused of orchestrating a coverup.
In a criticism filed in July 2020, Jones, who was once tasked with managing Florida’s Covid-19 information dashboard, alleged she was once fired after she refused to observe orders to govern information at the dashboard to strengthen lifting coronavirus restrictions to reopen the state when it was once in truth unsafe to take action.
Investigators decided the state’s Covid-19 information was once now not falsified, announcing within the document that the manipulation Jones alleged “didn’t happen.”
Witnesses inside the division advised investigators they had been “skeptical” of Jones’ preliminary claims of being requested to govern information as a result of she was once now not an epidemiologist and didn’t have get entry to to the dashboard’s underlying Covid-19 information repositories. The document mentioned Jones simplest had get entry to to a public-facing dashboard that visualized the information, and that knowledge matched the information the dep. shared in a day-to-day report back to the general public.
“If the complainant or different DOH team of workers had been to have falsified COVID-19 information at the dashboard, the dashboard would then now not have matched the information within the corresponding ultimate day-to-day document,” the document mentioned, noting “this kind of discrepancy” would had been detected by means of team of workers within the state Bureau of Epidemiology and by means of different teams reminiscent of native governments and the media.
A number of present and previous Division of Well being workers interviewed by means of investigators “denied ever being requested by means of any individual to falsify or another way adjust COVID-19 information or witnessing any individual else being directed to falsify or another way adjust COVID-19 information,” in line with the document.
Jones in her criticism additionally alleged well being division officers directed her to take away a “information hub” containing underlying surveillance information from the dashboard sooner than telling her to reactivate it inside 24 hours, the document mentioned.
The document discovered Jones’ allegation was once right kind, mentioning interviews with the officers who mentioned the information was once quickly got rid of for assessment over issues it’ll have contained sufferers’ publicly out there private knowledge attached to reported Covid-19 instances. On the other hand, the document concluded the officers’ movements didn’t violate any coverage for the reason that “information hub” was once now not required to be made to be had to the general public.
In reaction, Jones described the document’s conclusion that she were requested to take away some information as a “vindication.”
“I am relieved to be vindicated,” she mentioned, partially, in a observation. “It seems like a large weight taken off me to be vindicated in spite of everything, in any case this time, all of the efforts by means of the state to defame and smear me, and the failed makes an attempt to discredit me with baseless claims that experience in spite of everything been confirmed false.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ place of work didn’t right away reply Friday to CNN’s request for remark in regards to the inspector common document and Jones’ reaction.
Jones publicly shared the tale of her dismissal sooner than leaving the dep. in Might 2020 and turned into a outstanding critic of DeSantis, accusing the Republican of minimizing the level of Florida’s outbreak right through the pandemic.
In Might 2021, she was once granted whistleblower standing by means of the inspector common, although the overall document mentioned that call was once “primarily based only at the nature of the complainant’s allegations as offered” in her preliminary criticism.
Jones has grow to be politically energetic since her go out from the well being division and is now working in a Democratic number one to problem US Rep. Matt Gaetz for his Panhandle district.
CNN’s Curt Devine, Casey Tolan, Tina Burnside and Holly Yan contributed to this document.
