Florida Scientist Dismissed After Refusing to Change COVID-19 Data

On May 5, 2020, the Florida Department of Health dismissed a data scientist who had been leading development of the state's COVID-19 dashboard which records, among other things, the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in the state. The scientist -- Rebekah Jones - told reporters that she was forced out after "refusing to manually change" data in the dashboard "to drum up support for the plan to reopen" the state after the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. A spokesperson for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed that Ms. Jones had left the Department of Health, but did not address the reasons for her departure.

Update:

On June 16, 2020, the Washington Post reported that Ms. Jones has alleged that her manager "asked her to delete data showing that some [Florida] residents tested positive for the coronavirus in January, even though DeSantis assured residents in March that there was no evidence of community spread. Ms. Jones also alleged that she was asked to manually change numbers to wrongly make counties appear to have met metrics for reopening."

Following her dismissal from the Florida Department of Health, Ms. Jones developed a new "Community Coronavirus Dashboard." Ms. Jones' dashboard has a lower number for "total people tested" than the official state version because, she says, the state figure reflects the number of samples taken, not the number of people tested. Ms. Jones' dashboard also has a higher number for "COVID Positive People" because she includes both those who have tested positive for COVID-19 and those who have tested positive for antibodies. 

A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health criticized Ms. Jones' dashboard, saying it "aggregates disparate sets of data without considering many of the important guidelines utilized by epidemiologists,” who do not recommend combining the results of virus and antibody tests. 

On January 18, 2021, Ms. Jones turned herself in to Florida police in response to a warrant for her arrest issued by the state. According to the warrant, Ms. Jones is charged with one count of "offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks and electronic devices" following an allegation that she illegally accessed State Department software to send a text to thousands of state employees urging them to "speak up before another 17,000 people are dead." Ms. Jones claims she is being punished for her open criticism of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Ms. Jones further alleges that Florida officials found "no evidence" of the alleged text or illicit access to state software during a raid on her home the previous month, which she called another act of retaliation against her.