DeSantis & COVID: A full accounting of every lie

Part 1: The first year

I’m finishing compiling a master list of lies and deception in Florida, tracking every false, misleading, outrageous statement made by DeSantis and his accomplices during his tenure in office, and the disastrous policies that have devastated the state.

The point of this project was three-fold:

1. To assist with finishing the first draft of my book

2. To provide the public with a full accounting and fact-check in a more fluid, narrative format

3. To ensure the people of Florida have a voice for all they’ve suffered from at the hands of DeSantis after he returns to the state humiliated

I chose to start this series in January 2020, with COVID, and cover more topics as time moves forward. This represents part 1 of a five-part series.

COVID-19: The First Year

Florida knew that COVID-19 posed a major public health threat in January, when the CDC sent multiple urgent messages to state officials, organized calls, and managed information sessions warning Florida to “prepare for a pandemic.” 

Johns Hopkins University launched an interactive dashboard to track COVID-19 cases on January 22, 2020. 

The chief data manager for DOH emailed superiors two days later urging them to build a similar information, surveillance and data portal after discussing the concerning trends with a colleague in the Florida Department of Emergency Management (DEM). Approval for such a system would not come until March 12, 2020.

On January 31, Palm Beach county health officials asked the state for help informing the community about the virus, for public presentations and for coordinating resources. They never received those materials.

While public officials in the United States told the public not to purchase masks, the state was privately procuring them for the hospital systems, concerned about their supplies depleting.

By Valentine’s Day, the state was monitoring more than 500 people, the CDC was warning about disruptions to supply-chains across the world, and the Department of Health was preparing to push most of its employees to telework.