Thank you, Dr. Nelson, for refusing to let DeSantis muzzle you over COVID-19 deaths | Editorial

Know who else deserves a streaking, screaming Blue Angels salute?

The people who work for the state of Florida with the understanding that they actually work for us.

They are pushing back against the DeSantis administration’s attempt to bury the true toll the coronavirus has taken on the state and its desire to put the coronavirus pandemic behind it — quickly.

On Friday, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flew over South Florida to honor the healthcare workers in the region who are putting themselves at risk to save the lives of COVID-19 patients. Some medical professionals still are inadequately protected and are bearing the mental burden of seeing patients die despite their best efforts. And some laboring in healthcare have themselves lost their lives.

They are the true definition of heroes and so very deserving of the Friday’s soaring salute.

And so are others, in the state’s employ, who also are working hard on our behalf.

Nelson pushes back

Who comes to mind? Dr. Stephen Nelson, for one. Last week, he called out the DeSantis administration’s insistence that the less Floridians know about who is getting COVID-19, who is dying from it and the circumstances of their deaths, the better, at least for the governor’s press briefings, where he is inclined to take the friendlier questions.

Nelson is chairman of Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission, which oversees the state’s 21 medical examiners. The Commission regularly released the list of coronavirus-related deaths that the medical examiners compiled — until they were told to stop.

Nelson rightly protested, countering that the death tolls are public information and should be disseminated as always. As disturbing was the news that the medical examiners’ death tolls consistently were higher than those of the Department of Health.

‘Sham’ numbers

Last week, the state caved, somewhat, after strong pushback from Florida news organizations, including the Miami Herald, and open-government advocates. It released every Florida fatality documented by a medical examiner that was a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the information was so incomplete that Nelson called it a “sham.”

As the Miami Herald reported: “Missing from the data set were the names of those who have perished from COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus infections, the probable cause of death (there can be multiple factors) and the circumstances of the person’s demise.”

While the medical examiners do not release the names of the deceased, they do disclose demographic information and probable cause of death, as well as document each person’s travel and medical history.

The DeSantis administration, with a disappointing lack of transparency that this pandemic — and Floridians — should demand continues to play games with the numbers. Nelson was right to cry “foul,” and we urge him to, just like Florida’s media outlets, continue his vocal vigilance.

This story was originally published May 10, 2020 at 8:35 AM.