Castor questions removal of Florida’s Covid-19 data chief
May 19, 2020 - Rep. Kathy Castor has asked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Scott Rivkees to provide answers regarding the apparent firing of Rebekah Jones. Jones was the geographic information system manager for Department of Health’s Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, which manages the state's coronavirus data portal. Jones was removed from her job after she raised serious concerns about the lack of transparency of Covid-19 data being reported by the state of Florida, a news release from Castor's congressional office said. "This appears to be a troubling pattern by the state of Florida," Castor, D-Tampa, said in a letter to DeSantis and Rivkees. Castor cited previous reports about the state withholding information on infections and deaths at nursing homes as well as overall mortality data from medical examiners. The nursing home data has since been made public. Read Castor's full letter here.