With currently over 3 million confirmed cases and over 135,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., the highest among Western industrialized countries, one cannot deny that the incidence of coronavirus outbreaks is at alarming levels. There are records being broken every day, the most recent indicating that the U.S. had over 60,000 new confirmed cases in one day. A major increase of cases has hit Florida, including in Volusia County, a stretch of central Florida coastline that includes Daytona Beach and other popular destinations. Overnight on July 9th, Florida reported a record-breaking 120 new coronavirus deaths. Mike Chitwood, the sheriff of Volusia County, has been gathering COVID-19 statistical updates for the county provided by the state’s Department of Health. As the chief law enforcement official in Volusia County, he believed it was his responsibility to provide more transparency, while guarding the privacy of individual cases. Such information was deemed especially helpful to first responders, including police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel dealing with the outbreak.
Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has been criticized for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak. This ambitious 41-year-old, who apparently some believe will run for president in 2024, is a pal and ally of President Trump. However, DeSantis has consistently received among the lowest approval ratings of any state governor in the nation for his coronavirus response. The narrative of DeSantis has been that Florida was defeating the disease — a narrative that is now in tatters. It appears that earlier in the week state health officials informed Sheriff Chitwood’s office that they would no longer provide him or any other county-level officials with COVID-19 data updates for Volusia County.
It was obvious to Sheriff Chitwood that the “statewide directive” against any further sharing of such data was an attempt to hide the numbers from the public. Even with the data, he believed that the numbers provided weren’t always completely accurate. However, two days after the Sheriff announced that the state had abruptly cut him off from data about local cases of coronavirus infections, state health authorities reversed their course by agreeing to continue providing the information. The reversal was no doubt the result of public disclosure in the wake of social media outrage and irate attention from media outlets.
Such withholding of coronavirus-related data is reprehensible and inexcusable! The authorities have an obligation to inform the public of health risks in their community so that they can take the appropriate precautions. Transparency on the part of health authorities is essential to dealing with the pandemic, and should never be influenced by political considerations as was described in the above case. In Canada, COVID-19 statistics are daily released by the Public Health Agency of Canada and is reported daily on media outlets. Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer of Canada is in close contact with provincial and territorial Chief Medical Officers of Health to ensure that any cases of COVID-19 occurring in Canada continue to be rapidly identified and managed in order to protect the health of Canadians. Any attempt at political interference by local, provincial or federal authorities would be met with strong condemnation. Whether good or bad, citizens and local officials have the right to know what is happening as a result of this pandemic.
FROLITICKS 