As many U.S. states ease restrictions, some are being accused of misrepresenting COVID-19 data to push reopening. Public outcry erupted in Florida when the creator of its state COVID-19 data portal was fired. Rebekah Jones says she was removed because she refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen."

Local media reports that since her firing, Florida's COVID-19 tracking site has "crashed and went offline, data disappeared with no explanation and access to the underlying data sheets became difficult." 

Georgia is also under fire for its alleged manipulation of COVID-19 data. One widely publish graph seems to show a steady downward trend in cases, but the some noticed that dates are out of order. Also, the counties appear in a different order each day, appearing to descend.

Another graph from April used increments of 30 deaths for most dates, but then 50 when large spikes happened, making spikes look less serious. Following heated criticism, Georgia updated much of the material.

Check out The China Report, our new weekly newsletter. Subscribe here!