Committee Finds No Evidence University of Florida Withheld COVID-19 Data

University of FloridaThe University of Florida (UF) faculty committee investigation into whether the state or university officials had restricted or destroyed COVID-19 research data has found no merit to the allegations.

The committee, composed of three distinguished faculty members at UF, was created in response to these anonymous claims from a December 6, 2021 report from the UF Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Freedom.

In the investigation, the committee concluded that the claim likely arose from an incident in October 2020, when a Florida Department of Health (FDOH) representative said they were concerned about the way UF used and managed FDOH data regarding positive COVID tests. This was the result of miscommunication in the summer of 2020, when UF employees, working with the FDOH to help with public health surveillance, shared information with CDC representatives that FDOH had, in contract, asked them not to.

That matter was long since resolved, and FDOH and UF continue to partner on COVID-19 research.