On May 6, 2020, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) published a list of COVID-19 deaths based on data collected by the state's medical examiners. A list of COVID-19 deaths had previously been maintained by the Medical Examiners Commission (MEC). However, on or around April 20, state officials directed the MEC to stop publishing the list, reportedly because it showed a higher death rate than official data published by the Florida Department of Health.
The MEC list had included information about each person's cause of death and provided brief "case summaries" with their medical and travel history. That information was, however, redacted from the list published by the FDLE. According to a report by MSN News, the head of the MEC "has insisted the [redacted] information . . . is subject to disclosure under the state's public records law," but state officials have "warned . . . examiners to keep the information secret."