Manager of Florida's COVID-19 Dashboard Fired Because Refused to Manipulate Data – Reports

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Rebekah Jones, who managed Florida's dashboard website that displayed the state's latest COVID-19 statistics, claims she was fired because she refused to manipulate data so that it would support the reopening of the economy, USA Today reported.

The report on Tuesday said, citing an email from Jones, that she was removed from her position as the manager of the dashboard on 5 May and then fired by the Florida Department of Health on Monday after she allegedly refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' spokeswoman, Helen Aguirre Ferre, told the Miami Herald newspaper that the information on the dashboard is accurate.

In other US media reports, Jones warned that her removal may signal a change in accessibility and transparency of the dashboard data.

The Florida Department of Health said in a press release on Tuesday that so far there are 46,944 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 2,052 deaths related to the virus.