Florida Settles COVID Data Lawsuit, Resumes Reporting

Florida has settled a lawsuit over access to COVID-19 data and will resume providing weekly statistics to the public.

Former state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith sued the Florida Department of Health in 2021 after it stopped publishing daily COVID-19 data online in June of that year. At the time, Florida had shifted from daily to weekly reporting of COVID-19 figures, citing decreasing cases and rising vaccinations.

Smith argued the public had a right to access the data regularly, especially amid decisions about health protocols in schools. His lawsuit came as the Delta variant was causing cases to spike in Florida, with over 24,000 new cases reported per day in August 2021. Smith said school districts like Orange County needed timely data to determine COVID safety policies for students.

The lawsuit accused Florida of violating public records laws by not releasing the data. It was filed right after Governor Ron DeSantis barred schools from implementing mask mandates, leading to criticism that the state was hiding information related to COVID risks for students.

Under the settlement, the health department will again publish COVID-19 statistics online starting October 28. This includes weekly data on new cases, deaths, and vaccinations broken down by county, age, gender and race. More detailed than the current reports, this will provide insight into the ongoing impact of COVID across Florida.

The state denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay over $150,000 in legal fees. The Florida Department of Health said COVID-19 data has always been reported to the CDC and will now be available alongside other public health statistics.

Critics viewed the lawsuit as upholding Florida’s Sunshine Laws on public records access. The settlement requires COVID-19 data be published for the next three years. As of late September 2022, Florida had over 10,000 new COVID cases reported that week and over 90,000 total deaths.