ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino said his department was instructed by the Florida Department of Health to stop releasing information on COVID-19 cases in local schools due to confidentiality concerns.
Pino said his department can no longer release the numbers of how many students, teachers and staff have COVID-19 in Orange County Public Schools after DOH’s legal staff deemed it “confidential.”
That information will now only be able to come from school districts, if they choose to release it.
Orange County Public Schools said it will continue to release the data on Tuesdays and Fridays.
As of Tuesday, the district had 59 students and staff with COVID-19, and as of Thursday it has 220 in quarantine.
Pino said he was releasing the information because he believed it should be public. He said he takes responsibility for not clarifying with the DOH first, but that he’s now asking for further clarification because he said the information does not identify anyone.
NEW: Dr. Pino says he's been told by the @HealthyFla his department can no longer release the numbers of how many students/teachers/staff have Covid-19 in Orange County Public Schools. He says DOH legal staff considered the info confidential. @WFTV
— Lauren Seabrook (@LSeabrookWFTV) September 3, 2020
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