The Orlando Sentinel announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Health for hiding data on the spread of coronavirus variants around the state, an action the newspaper alleges violates the state constitution.

The Sentinel filed a request with the state 57 days ago for information on the spread and location of emerging coronavirus strains throughout Florida.  The DeSantis administration has not responded to the request, prompting the newspaper to take the case to court.  This is the second time the Sentinel has taken the DeSantis administration to court over failure to provide records on the coronavirus pandemic in the state; the earlier case was settled.

“Regrettably we have to sue the state again to receive critical public health information that should be readily available for all to examine,” said the Sentinel’s editor-in-chief Julie Anderson. “We have been more than patient in waiting for the Department of Health to fulfill a basic request for information — 57 days and counting — with no explanation as to why this information should remain secret. Floridians deserve to see the data so they can make informed decisions about their health.”

Florida officials have frequently been accused of hiding the breadth and extent of the coronavirus pandemic in the state.  A data scientist formerly employed by the state was fired after she accused officials of manipulating data before making it available to the public.  She later set up her own website, drawing on public records.  The DeSantis administration then issued an arrest warrant for her, claiming she illegally hacked into government computer systems; that case is pending.