Woman who designed Florida's COVID-19 dashboard has been removed from her position

[babylonsister]

https://cbs12.com/news/local/woman-who-designed-floridas-covid-19-dashboard-has-been-removed-from-her-position


Woman who designed Florida's COVID-19 dashboard has been removed from her position
by Sabrina Lolo
Monday, May 18th 2020


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CBS12) — As Florida starts to reopen, the architect and manager of Florida's COVID-19 dashboard, announced she'd been removed from her position, Florida Today reported.

Rebekah Jones said in an email to CBS12 News that her removal was "not voluntary" and that she was removed from her position because she was ordered to censor some data, but refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen."

Jones made the announcement May 5 in a farewell email to researchers and other members of the public who had signed up to receive updates on the data portal, according to Florida Today. She said that for "reasons beyond my division's control," her office is no longer managing the dashboard, involved in its publication, fixing errors or answering any questions.

Florida's COVID-19 dashboard, created by a team of Florida Department of Health data scientists and public health officers led by Jones, was praised by White House officials for its accessibility, the Florida Daily reported. But over the last few weeks, it "crashed and went offline, data disappeared with no explanation and access to the underlying data sheets became difficult."

Jones told CBS12 News that since she's been removed, the dashboard still hasn't been fully repaired.

CBS12 News reached out to the Florida Department of Health for comment and is waiting to hear back.

[Midnight Writer]

1. Republican Inquisition. Punish any who challenge supernatural dogma.

[mcar]

2. This does not surprise me

[redstatebluegirl]

3. K&R

[crickets]

4. Well, when non-scientists go gallumphing around in the software

trying to destroy data, they might tend to make a mess, no? I am proud of the scientists, including Rebekah Jones, who have the backbone to outright refuse to lie.

[babylonsister]

9. Major props to her and anyone who refuses to lie. nt

[Hermit-The-Prog]

14. Imagine if all ethical people left the Executive branch during trump's first year.

It would have shut down the whole shitshow.

[outasync]

5. DOCUMENTED NEW CASES

has not been updated since 5/1!

[link:https://fdoh.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/8d0de33f260d444c852a615dc7837c86|


The Re-Open Florida Task Force outlined the criteria shown here to evaluate each county’s readiness to begin a phased return to pre-pandemic activity.
look under Health Metrics Tab.

[lpbk2713]

6. Thanks for the eye opener.

I had a feeling the numbers weren't right as the days passed.

[JDC]

7. Jeezus H. WTF is going on in this country.

(Rhetorical)

[MySideOfTown]

8. I've noticed this

I have been following the dashboard since 4/1 and recording the numbers of deaths and new cases daily in a spreadsheet, trying to make sense of my risk here in the sunshine state.

Interestingly, that since May 5th, the date of Ms. Jones departure, the numbers haven't made much sense. Chronologically since 5/5 the numbers of deaths statewide have been 72,68,71,69,46,6,14,47,47,47,42,47,8,24. What are the odds that the number, of deaths could be the same 4 out of 5 days?

[babylonsister]

10. Comforting, isn't it. We're being lied to. nt

[MySideOfTown]

11. They are lying to themselves.

But they are going to open up a lot this week, including restaurants at 50% capacity. That includes bars serving food, but no one can order from the bar.? The only bars I go to are those having lots of pool tables, so it's good for me, since playing pool is my thing. I've been vegetating for two months and I'm tempted to see how it's all going to work at my favorite pool bars. Of course, I'll wear a mask. They say they will bring you a beer. We shall see.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. I've been watching my county stats and I noticed some very strange things last week.

I invite you to drop into the Florida forum and post your observations as you see them. When we see these data blips, we know they're cheating.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. Well, that explains a hell of a lot.

[Nay]

15. Has she been fired outright or just moved to another area in the state admin? Because if

she was fired, I want the Democratic National Committee, or any other Dem official org to GET HER HIRED ON AT A BETTER JOB somewhere. You know, like the Republicans have been doing forever for their knuckle-dragging compatriots.

REWARD the officials who are speaking the truth. If you let them be treated badly when they tell the truth, you are sending the wrong message to others who want to tell the truth.

[cbdo2007]

16. As someone in data reporting myself...this actually happens all the time. Happened to me a couple...

of years ago where I got fired for refusing to frame the data in a way that I felt was untruthful.

That's the problem with data, even truthful data, is that you can manipulate the views to show it in either a positive or negative way, and you can include or exclude different data points to make it fit what you are wanting to show.