ORLANDO | After weeks of being denied records to COVID-19 data from the state, Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) and the non-partisan, non-profit group Florida Center for Government Accountability have filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Health and the state surgeon general, Dr. Scott Rivkees.
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 30 in Leon County, Smith and the Florida Center allege that Rivkees and the Department of Health violated the law by withholding public records for daily local COVID-19 pediatric hospitalizations, case counts and more.
“After weeks of slow-walking our request, the state officially denied access to these records and falsely stated they were ‘confidential’ under state law, even after making those same records available for nearly a year on the Department’s daily COVID dashboard,” Smith said in a statement posted to social media.
The lawsuit states that Rivkees and the Department of Health’s refusal to supply the records requested violates the Public Records Act and Article I, Section 24(a) of the Florida Constitution.
Florida’s Department of Health reported daily COVID-19 information on its website until June when it began to provide a weekly summary report. In the 12-week period following the Health department’s change, Florida saw an increase in COVID-19 case of more than 2,000%.
“All Floridians have the right to receive critical public health data in a timely manner in order to make informed decisions to protect the health and safety of their families,” Smith said. “The DeSantis administration has consistently refused to release COVID-related public records, which not only hurts our efforts to contain this deadly virus, it is also unlawful.”
Smith and the Florida Center have asked that the court set an immediate hearing and prioritize the lawsuit over other pending cases.
