ClickOrlando is a website run by WKMG-TV, which is a CBS affiliate out of Orlando, Florida. On June 17, the page posted an article that quoted the Florida governor regarding the state’s rising numbers of those with coronavirus.
As written by ClickOrlando:
Gov. Ron DeSantis said 260 workers at the Orlando International Airport have tested positive for the coronavirus after nearly 500 employees were tested.
“[An]Airport in Central Florida had a couple of cases, they did the contract tracing. They looked [at] almost 500 workers [and] 260 people working close together were positive, 52 percent positivity rate on that one,” DeSantis said.
The article continued with the record number of COVID cases in Florida reported the previous day (over 2,780), the percentage of people taking the test who were deemed positive (5.5%), and the amount of people hospitalized in ICU and on ventilators (down 43% and 56%, respectfully, as per DeSantis).
DeSantis’ numbers regarding the state’s numbers may or may not be on the mark, since there are reports that the Florida Department of Health may be “fudging” them to make them look better. However, Orlando International Airport was quick to respond to DeSantis’ other numbers that he apparently quoted in error.
Phil Brown, CEO of Orlando International Airport, suggested the governor’s comments were misleading. He in a statement on June 17 that only 2 cases, or 0.4% from the 500 workers tested last week were positive. The statement was given to clear up “what can be a confusing mix of data for the traveling public,” as per Brown. “We continue to work with all of our health department officials to ensure all is being done to keep the traveling public and our employees safe at Orlando International Airport.”
MCO also posted a tweet about the issue:
Clarification of Total Number of COVID-19 cases at MCO
06/17/2020
Five hundred COVID-19 tests were performed over three days by the Florida Department of Health at Orlando International Airport last week. Of those tests, only two were positive.
We want to clarify that the number of cases recently shared with the media is the total number of cases confirmed at our airport since mid-March through June.
In total, there have been 260 confirmed cases, which includes 132 airport employees out of the more than 25,000 employees who work here.
The other 128 are not employees of the airport, but have traceable connections to our employees.
DeSantis’ office did not respond.
*** Feature photo: Orlando International Airport
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
