HIDE THE DATA

Florida tells health officials not to release coronavirus data about schools 

By STEPHEN HUDAK and RYAN GILLESPIE  ORLANDO SENTINEL | SEP 03, 2020 

'FACE MASKS ARE REQUIRED' sign in the first grade classroom of Michole Michelson, at Lake Como K-8 classroom on, Wednesday, August 19, 2020. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)

Local health officials are barred from releasing detailed information about new COVID-19 cases in public schools because of privacy rules, a local health official said Thursday.

The number of students and school staff who are infected — or whether infections are being transmitted in classrooms ― will no longer be released by health officials, Dr. Raul Pino, the state’s health officer in Orange County, said at a Thursday briefing.

That’s a departure from earlier this week when Pino released the number of cases associated with schools as well as the number of students and staff under precautionary quarantine and a list of affected schools.

On Monday he noted that the health department was investigating its first potential case of student-to-teacher transmission, critical information for parents as they decide whether to send their children to face-to-face classes in the midst of a global pandemic. But on Thursday, Pino said he couldn’t disclose any more details about that case and whether the health department had drawn a conclusion about how the transmission occurred.

“Because it’s confidential information, I can’t continue to release that data to the public in that format,” said Dr. Raul Pino, the local state health officer.

Orange County Public Schools spokesman Scott Howat said the district will continue to release data to the public on Tuesdays and Fridays through social media and, eventually, a designated section of the district’s web site.

Orange’s plan is similar to one launched by public school officials in Volusia, who said “The Florida Department of Education has requested COVID-19 reporting at the district level,” according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. But it’s not clear if each district will release the same information or how detailed that information will be.

As of Tuesday, Orange County had 59 students and staff with COVID-19. Howat said Thursday the district had 198 students and 22 staffers in quarantine, which means they could have been exposed to an infected person and are being asked to stay home for two weeks as a precaution to help stop the spread.

The Sentinel reported earlier this week that nearly 450 Central Florida public school students and staff are in quarantine after positive COVID-19 tests were reported from their schools. In addition to Orange, that total includes 158 in Seminole County, at least 72 in Osceola County and at least 19 in Lake County. Some students and staff quarantined in Osceola and Lake last week could remain so this week, but they are not included in their county totals reported this week.

The quarantine total doesn’t count another 595 students who were sent home last week when an Osceola middle school closed. Harmony Middle School shut down for two weeks after a group of teachers tested positive or were waiting on test results.

Overall, Pino said masks and other preventative measures such as social distancing appeared to be working in Orange schools.

“I’m actually pleasantly surprised,” he said, though students have only met in face-to-face classes for 10 days.

The clampdown on information about schools came as Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond announced the latest collections of the tourist tax — just $5.2 million for July, a 77% decline over the same month last year, but a marked improvement over June when less than $3 million was collected.

Diamond said the county’s financial well-being is tied to its physical health. The increase from the 6% levy on hotel rooms from June to July reflects the reopening of Walt Disney World, though at a reduced capacity.

Before the pandemic, Orange was on track for another record year for tourism. But on Thursday, Diamond applauded a recent decision by Mayor Jerry Demings to halt all work on an expansion of the county’s giant convention center, which is funded by tourist taxes.

The dismal collections forced the county to pull nearly $21.8 million from its reserves to cover its bills.

“It’s important to minimize the drawdown given the uncertainty of when the tourism industry will recover,” Diamond said, noting current collections are “far less than what we need to pay our bills every month, quite honestly.”

Still, officials’ spirits appeared buoyed by the continued decline in new coronavirus infections across the community.

State data shows about 4.88% of tests came back positive Wednesday in Orange County, one of the lowest levels seen this summer.

Demings and Pino cautioned residents to continue wearing masks, washing hands and keeping distance from others as they go about barbecues or other activities during the long Labor Day weekend.

“We can go to the beach, we can have a barbecue, we can have friends over as long as we keep those measures in place,” Pino said. “We know they work because they’ve worked here.”

In addition, to declining case numbers seen after Orange began requiring people to wear masks, Demings’ executive order on face coverings got another boost on Thursday

Circuit Court Judge Lisa Munyon upheld his order in a blow to state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, Orange County GOP Chair Charles Hart and conservative attorney John Stemberger, who argued that masks are a medical device and the “forced use of a medical device violates his Florida right to privacy.”

Munyon rejected that argument.

“Plaintiff’s position would lead to an absurd result,” she wrote in her ruling. “It would prevent any government from addressing new health threats with mandatory regulations until years of clinical study support the decision.”

Demings said the ruling was “common sense.”

“These types of lawsuits waste valuable time and resources for local governments,” he said.



Stephen Hudak 
Stephen Hudak often writes about bears in Central Florida and weird things in the Orlando area, including Orange County government. He likes snow and Ohio State but wound up in the Sunshine State, which has been good to him. He was a Pulitzer finalist for work on the FAMU hazing tragedy.


Ryan Gillespie 
Ryan Gillespie covers the neighborhoods and governments of Orlando and Osceola County. He grew up in Jupiter and graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism.

9,000 Florida children caught COVID-19 within 15 days of school reopenings

Teacher and children wearing protective face masks at school. Image source: visoot/Adobe

By Jacob Siegal @JacobSiegal
August 26th, 2020 

Florida has reported just under 9,000 new COVID-19 cases among children over the last 15 days as schools across the state reopen and resume in-person classes.
In the 15-day period before August 9th, just under 8,600 children below the age of 18 tested positive for COVID-19, which means the infection rate is increasing.
Florida’s Department of Education is currently in a legal battle trying to force schools to be open five days a week regardless of safety concerns for students or teachers.

The United States has been averaging over 40,000 positive COVID-19 tests every day since August began, but that did not stop schools around the country from reopening this month. Daycares and elementary schools all the way up to major universities have been welcoming students back, and reports of viral outbreaks are never far behind. Earlier this week, three Alabama colleges reported 566 cases just days after resuming classes, and now data from Florida shows that thousands of young adults and children have been infected since schools reopened.

In a recent pediatric report concerning coronavirus cases throughout the state, Florida confirmed that 48,730 people below the age of 18 have tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of Monday, August 24th. As The Hill points out, that’s an increase of 8,995 cases since the last report, which was released on August 9th. In the same 15-day period before August 9th, the state of Florida reported 8,585 cases among children, which means that the infection rate has continued to grow throughout the month, even as the infection rate drops nationwide.

With over 605,000 coronavirus cases, Florida has been hit harder than 47 other states since the pandemic began. Even New York, which was once considered the epicenter of the pandemic, has yet to record 500,000 positive cases. Governor Ron DeSantis has repeatedly ignored these warning signs and attempted to force Florida back to a state of normalcy, with the Florida Department of Education going as far as to sign an executive order demanding that brick-and-mortar schools be open five days a week or risk losing funding.

A Florida judge temporarily blocked the Department of Education’s executive order on Monday, saying it “essentially ignored” Florida’s constitutional requirement to have safe and secure public schools.

“The districts have no meaningful alternative,” wrote Judge Charles Dodson of Leon County. “If an individual school district chooses safety, that is, delaying the start of schools until it individually determines it is safe to do so for its county, it risks losing state funding, even though every student is being taught.”

Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and the Department of Education are appealing the decision, as he argues that this battle is “about giving every parent, every teacher and every student a choice, regardless of what educational option they choose.” It’s unclear how forcing teachers to risk their health by going into a school building five days a week is a choice, but that appears to be Corcoran’s argument.