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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on July 21, 2020 in a viral image: The CDC said it “made a mistake” and reduced its count of Florida COVID-19 cases from 90,000 to 11,000. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Public Health * Facebook Fact-checks * Florida * Coronavirus * Viral image ![\\"Alina](\\" Alina Wetzstein wears personal protection equipment as she interviews the homeless for testing for COVID-19 in a program administered by the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, during the new coronavirus pandemic on April 16, 2020, in Miami. (AP) ![\\"Tom](\\" By Tom Kertscher July 27, 2020 # No, CDC did not admit a mistake, did not reduce its COVID-19 Florida case count #### If Your Time is short * The CDC did not admit making a mistake that resulted in any systematic undercount of coronavirus cases in Florida. See the sources for this fact-check Was it a conspiracy that made Florida a coronavirus hotspot? That’s the suggestion made in a viral image shared by a Facebook account called \"Stay with Trump.\" The image, which includes a photo of comedian Tim Allen smiling, says: \"So, now that Trump has said hospitals are to report numbers to WH instead of the CDC, they came out & said they made a mistake in FL and they’ve been counting pneumonia and flu as covid, dropping their # from approx 90,000 to 11,000. Weird how that works, ain’t it?\" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The Centers for Disease Control did not admit any kind of systematic error in its Florida COVID-19 counts. The Trump administration on July 10 did order hospitals to bypass the CDC and send COVID-19 patient information to the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump administration officials say the change will streamline data gathering, but the HHS database is not open to the public, which could affect the work of health officials who relied on the CDC database, the New York Times reported. The Facebook post we’re checking was published July 21. The same day, the same claim was made in a tweet by former congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine. Lorraine, a pro-Trump Republican, finished last among five candidates in the 2020 primary for the U.S. House seat held by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeffrey Barke stated on August 23, 2024 in an Instagram post Food and Drug Administration approval for updated COVID-19 vaccines requires a public health emergency declaration. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • August 27, 2024 In a reply to her tweet, Lorraine cited what she said were the \"sources\" for a her claim, including: a report that a Florida motorcyclist’s death had been added to the COVID-19 and then was removed; a partially debunked claim that hospitals are paid $13,000 for the admission of a COVID-19 patient and $39,000 if the patient goes on a ventilator; and her own statement that the CDC has admitted that it includes pneumonia and seasonal flu in its count of COVID-19 cases. Bob Anderson, chief of mortality statistics at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, told PolitiFact that similar claims were made in June. \"The claim was false then and is still false now. I’m not even sure where those numbers come from. They seem to have been pulled out of thin air,\" he said. As of July 27, the day we published this fact-check, Florida had nearly 419,000 cases, according to the CDC. The CDC counts as COVID-19 cases those patients whose cases are confirmed by testing as well as those that are considered \"probable\", CDC spokesman Jason McDonald told us. According to the epidemiological standards, a \"probable\" case is one that meets clinical criteria and epidemiologic evidence even though there hasn’t been testing; one in which antigens or antibodies have been detected and the person meets clinical criteria or there is epidemiologic evidence; or, one in which a death certificate lists COVID-19 disease or SARS- CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant contributing factor. Cases that involve pneumonia or flu but not COVID-19 are not included in COVID-19 counts, McDonald said. However, a case would be included if, for example, a patient gets pneumonia that was caused by COVID-19, Anderson said. The CDC gets its Florida case counts from the Florida Department of Health, and no change from 90,000 to 11,000 was made, McDonald told PolitiFact. We rate the statement False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Facebook, post (archived here), July 21, 2020 Twitter, DeAnna Lorraine tweet, July 21, 2020 Twitter, DeAnna Lorraine reply tweet, July 21, 2020 Email, Bob Anderson, chief of mortality statistics at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, July 27, 2020 Email, spokesman Jason McDonald of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, July 27, 2020 Email, Alberto Moscoso, director of communications, Florida Department of Health, July 24, 2020 AFP Fact Check, \"CDC did not cut Florida COVID-19 count after Trump administration rerouted hospital data,\" July 24, 2020 Courier Daily, \"CDC Florida Mistake In Reporting COVID-19 Numbers: DeAnna Lorraine Tweet Fact Check,\" July 23, 2020 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, \"COVID-19 Guidance for Hospital Reporting and FAQs For Hospitals, Hospital Laboratory, and Acute Care Facility Data Reporting,\" July 10, 2020 New York Times, \"Trump Administration Strips C.D.C. of Control of Coronavirus Data,\" July 14, 2020 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Tom Kertscher slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2023 in an Instagram post: A wind turbine must “spin continually for over four years just to replace the energy it took to manufacture it.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 15, 2023 in un video en TikTok: \"Biden elimina ‘tráfico sexual de menores’ como una de las prioridades del Departamento de Justicia de su gobierno”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • July 25, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 17, 2023 in an Instagram post: \"Florida to ban mRNA vaccines as credible evidence of biological weapons.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 18, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video suggests Canada wildfires were deliberately set to advance “smart cities” push. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 30, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a video: Women vaccinated against COVID-19 face \"unknown side effects that could perpetually go down through the lineage\" to their children. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2023 in a Facebook post: As of Aug. 25, \"Luis Rubiales has resigned as the president of the Spanish Football Federation.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 24, 2023 in an Instagram post: The World Health Organization said there is \"a possible causal relationship\" between COVID-19 vaccines and multiple sclerosis. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 9, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video shows military planes over Nashville \"dispersing materials into the atmosphere\" for geoengineering. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 23, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 20, 2023 in a Facebook post: “Official statement — Putin assassinated in the Kremlin!” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Tom Kertscher • August 22, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 8, 2023 in a Facebook post: \"The federal government has just declared a major food shortage emergency\" in six states. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 16, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Steve Kirsch stated on August 8, 2023 in a blog post: COVID-19 vaccines have killed 676,000 Americans. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Tom Kertscher • August 14, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 6, 2023 in a viral image: California passed a law “reducing penalties for oral, anal sex with willing children.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 9, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on June 22, 2023 in a post: A new law 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on July 19, 2023 in an Instagram post: A wind turbine must “spin continually for over four years just to replace the energy it took to manufacture it.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 15, 2023 in un video en TikTok: \"Biden elimina ‘tráfico sexual de menores’ como una de las prioridades del Departamento de Justicia de su gobierno”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • July 25, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 17, 2023 in an Instagram post: \"Florida to ban mRNA vaccines as credible evidence of biological weapons.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 18, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video suggests Canada wildfires were deliberately set to advance “smart cities” push. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 30, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a video: Women vaccinated against COVID-19 face \"unknown side effects that could perpetually go down through the lineage\" to their children. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2023 in a Facebook post: As of Aug. 25, \"Luis Rubiales has resigned as the president of the Spanish Football Federation.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ### No, CDC did not admit a mistake, did not reduce its COVID-19 Florida case count * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 13, 2024 in a post on Threads: “ABC lost $27M in ad revenue after advertisers pulled ads from the network after the way they 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The CDC said it made a mistake and reduced its count of Florida COVID19 cases from 90000 to 11000