ORLANDO, Fla. – For months now, the Florida Department of Health has released numbers each morning showing recent coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths but soon that will change.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Friday that instead of updating the FDOH COVID-19 dashboard around 11 a.m. each day, the state will begin to update it in the evening hours.
Recommended Videos
[TRENDING: Florida in Eta’s cone | The latest on the presidential race | Is there proof of voter fraud?]
“I want to let our residents also know that the state of Florida has informed our emergency management group that the COVID-19 dashboard that they were providing, that was outwardly facing, will not be updated in the late morning hours as it had been done for months, rather it will be updated in the evening hours. Why the state made that decision, I am not sure,” Demings said.
The mayor didn’t provide any further details about when the change will take place or at what exact hour Floridians can expect new data.
The dashboard was initially launched in mid-March, when businesses and schools first started closing in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 soon after it was detected in the Sunshine State.
While it initially focused on cases and deaths, it’s since been expanded to show testing numbers, health metrics and county-by-county breakdowns that include patient gender and median age as well as data from the past several weeks to give a better idea of trends in a particular area.
The state now also releases reports that list cases in long-term care facilities, schools and correctional facilities.
News 6 has contacted the Florida Department of Health for more information about why the dashboard is changing and what residents can expect. This story will be updated when a reply is received.
As of Friday, Florida has reported a cumulative total of 832,625 cases -- including 5,245 that were reported in the past 24 hours -- and 17,224 deaths.