There are “early warning signs” that COVID-19 cases are ticking up in Florida – in the Villages and several counties, including Brevard – and the state should be closely tracking the data and reacting with “increased mitigation” in those areas, according to a little-known report that the White House Coronavirus Task Force sends Florida each week.
“Testing must increase statewide,” the report recommends.
For nearly five months now, the task force, which was formed earlier this year and is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, has been sending a detailed COVID-19 report to all state governors, providing county and state-level trends and a series of recommendations. But Florida is among more than a dozen states to withhold those reports from the public.
On Oct. 16, after the Orlando Sentinel asked Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office for the latest task force report, it took getting the Sentinel’s lawyers involved and five work days before the state released its Oct. 11 Task Force report on Thursday.
The report covers the week of Oct. 5 and it’s not clear if the document is the latest available report sent to DeSantis’ office. It’s also not clear whether DeSantis has followed through with the report’s recommendations, how he incorporates the report into his pandemic strategy or how widely it is distributed among counties, cities and other institutions.
After looking at the report, Dr. Mary Jo Trepka, professor and chair of Department of Epidemiology at Florida International University, said that none of the data points in the report are surprising.
“What is here that we don’t normally have access to is the expert guidance from the federal government,” said Trepka. “These are all very good recommendations, and I think that the public has a right to know what our federal government is recommending for the state and know how we’re doing in terms of following these recommendations and if we’re not following them, then is there a justification for that?”
The Sentinel sent several questions to DeSantis’ office about the report on Friday and received an emailed statement back.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor DeSantis has coordinated with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and experts at the local, state and federal levels, as well as those in the private sector, to protect Florida’s most vulnerable residents and guide our state through this unprecedented public health emergency,” said the statement from his office. “Since March, he has traveled the state on a near-daily basis, urging best health practices and encouraging vigilance against COVID-19.”
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said although she had heard about the reports, she didn’t realize that they were being released weekly.
“It’s not like the governor references it at all during any type of press conference or regular presentation, and I’m sure it was intentionally kept in the dark because the governor is making decisions based on this own political preference and not based on any type of data or science,” she said.
The Oct. 11 task force report highlighted a continuing spread of the virus in Florida through social gatherings.
“People must remember that seemingly uninfected members and friends may be infected but asymptomatic,” the report says. “Encourage outdoor activities and ensure mask and physical distancing messages for all residents, both in public and private spaces.”
Some of report’s recommendations are echoed by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and Dr. Raul Pino, the state’s health officer in Orange.
Pino on Thursday said 30 people went to a birthday party in Avalon Park and half later tested positive for COVID-19. That news came just one day after the school district said the east Orange neighborhood’s high school, Timber Creek, would close for two weeks following cases found on the campus.
The task force report also recommends the use of antigen testing for people who are at a higher risk of catching the virus, including K-12 teachers, staff working at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, prison staff and first responders.
The state is receiving more than 6 million rapid antigen tests – about 400,000 a week — and the state-run testing sites such as the one at the Orange County Convention Center are already using them, also distributed to assisted living facilities and schools.
//assets.documentcloud.org/viewer/loader.js
DV.load(“https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7275788-WH-Task-Force-Report-1011.js”, {
responsive: true,
container: “#DV-viewer-7275788-WH-Task-Force-Report-1011”
});
WH Coronavirus Task Force Report 1011 (PDF)
WH Coronavirus Task Force Report 1011 (Text)
And it recommends routine testing of college students.
“Increase percent of students screened each week to 20% if test positivity of asymptomatic students is greater than 10%,” the report recommends. “Ensure university students continue their mitigation behaviors to ensure no further outbreaks on or off campus.”
The state must report all positive antigen tests and the total number of antigen tests performed, according to the report. Florida currently lumps together PCR and antigen testing results, and it’s not clear if the task force wants the state to report those numbers separately.
The report also provides a summary of cases, test positivity and deaths:
When it comes to classifying the status of the state and its counties, the report uses five colors: dark green, light green, yellow, orange and red, indicating the rate of increase in cases and test positivity. As of Oct. 11, Florida was in the orange zone for cases and in the green zone for test positivity.
As of Oct. 11, Florida ranked 31st in the nation for new cases per 100,000 people and 28th for test positivity.
The state ranked sixth in the nation for new deaths per 100,000. State officials have begun to cast doubt on the accuracy of COVID death numbers, ordering an investigation of all COVID deaths.
As of Oct. 11, Miami-Dade, Broward and Hillsborough counties had the highest number of new cases over the last three weeks, accounting for nearly 30% of new cases in Florida. Orange County ranked fourth.
As of Oct. 11, six counties — Baker, Hardee, Union, Taylor, Glades and Franklin — were in the red zone. Columbia, Hendry and Hamilton counties were in the orange zone. And 26 counties, including Orange, Polk and Osceola were in the yellow zone.
Between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9, on average 669 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 were admitted each day to hospitals in Florida. More than 95% of hospitals reported new confirmed or suspected COVID patients each day during this time.
More than half of all counties in Florida have moderate or high levels of community transmission.
Eskamani urged DeSantis to make the weekly report “readily available for every county official and every member of the public.”
“This information should be accessible so we can all benefit from the same amount of information and make decisions based on the best medical advice and not political rhetoric,” she said.
