CNN’s Chris Cuomo Accuses Gov. DeSantis of Manipulating Florida Covid Numbers After Cases Decline: ‘Can We Trust the Data?’

Presley Ann/Getty Images

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Monday questioned whether Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is providing inaccurate data about the coronavirus, just as his state posted its lowest number of new daily infections in nearly three weeks.

“Can we trust the data from Florida’s governor?” Cuomo wrote on Twitter, citing news that Florida reported 8,892 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday. That figure is the state’s lowest since July 7.

Florida experienced a surge in coronavirus cases in July, rising from just over 150,000 on June 30 to more than 423,000 as of July 27 — a nearly three-fold increase. A total of 5,931 Florida residents have died as a result of complications stemming from the virus, up from 3,550 as of June 30.

Democrats have taken issue with DeSantis over the way Florida conducts data reporting. State hospitals were instructed in April to tally Covid-19 hospitalizations strictly by counting patients who came in for issues related to the disease rather than for other medical problems. The state’s Department of Health data manager, Rebekah Jones, was also terminated in May after she objected to removing records that showed when people started to report symptoms of the virus.

Commenters quickly replied to Cuomo’s message with references to his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), and his handling of the virus in his state. “Your brother forced over 6,000 coronavirus patients into nursing homes for 46 days,” wrote Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean, whose mother and father-in-law died from the virus. Erick Erickson echoed the sentiment: “How about dealing with the blood on your brother’s hands before spreading conspiracies about other governors.”

New York has experienced nearly the same number of Covid-19 infections to date — 412,344 — but has seen six times as many residents die, with 32,645 reported deaths as of July 27.