GOP FL House Speaker Disputes COVID Death Tally

The Tampa Bay Times reports:

The Florida House speaker is calling into question the state’s COVID-19 death toll, warning that it was based on compromised data and used a methodology that inflated death rates.

Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, sent a memo Tuesday to all House members announcing the findings of an-in house analysis he ordered of the state’s COVID-19 death numbers and cautioned lawmakers against using the data for policy purposes. The death totals are released daily by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration.

Oliva issued the memo and analysis weeks before he leaves office following the Nov. 3 elections. New lawmakers and new leaders will be sworn in during a Nov. 17 organization session.

“Number one, I don’t need a politician to tell me how to do my job.”
Dr. Joshua Stephany, chief medical examiner for Orange and Osceola counties, on Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva’s report questioning the state’s COVID death data.
(via @NaseemMiller)https://t.co/JFMTt8o11S

— Scott Maxwell (@Scott_Maxwell) October 13, 2020

Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva has apologized for referring to pregnant women as the “host body.” https://t.co/sWq2SHiX1h

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 4, 2019