TAMPA, Fla. — Hours after the Florida Department of Health released a comprehensive list of COVID-19 cases from primary, secondary and post-secondary schools statewide, there are already questions about the accuracy of the data.
"The accuracy of the numbers is something to look for,” said Dr. Michael Teng, a virologist at the University of South Florida.
The report breaks down schools according to county and breaks down cases according to teachers, students and staff. It also lists whether the person was asymptomatic or showed signs of illness.
"So the question is, you know, how often are they reporting and, you know, what are these numbers that they're reporting?” Teng said.
An initial look at the numbers shows noticeable discrepancies between state data and what some schools are releasing.
On the state report under post-secondary schools, there were 167 cases listed for USF and USF Health in Hillsborough County between Sept. 6-26. However, if you look at what the university put on its own website, that number balloons to more than 200 cases.
The same goes for the University of Tampa. The state report lists just 92 cases in that time period, yet the university reports 87 cases the week of the 11th, 105 cases the week of the 18th and 48 the week of the 25th.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to the Florida Department of Health for more understanding of how numbers are reported and is awaiting a response.
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