Greetings neighbors, this is the Miami Corona Project Daily Update for Friday, May 1st, 2020:

As of yesterday, there have been 12,063 positive cases of coronavirus across the county, with 1,509 hospitalizations and a total of 352 deaths–fourteen more than yesterday.  

Across the United States, the national total of positive cases is now 1,067,061, the total number of dead has risen to 62,860.

State officials have stopped releasing the list of coronavirus deaths being compiled by Florida’s medical examiners, which has at times shown a higher death toll than the state’s published count.

The moves to withhold information comes at a sensitive moment for state leaders. Florida’s coronavirus death toll is continuing to rise and state officials have begun talks about when and how to start reopening.

The health department didn’t begin releasing information on which nursing homes have had infections until a consortium of news organizations, including the Herald and the Times, moved to sue for the information. The news organizations filed a lawsuit Monday seeking additional records.

Transparency advocates, public health experts and medical examiners say comprehensive information about deaths is critical to understanding the epidemic’s path and impact.

Let’s hope today brings better news.  I’ll update you tomorrow.