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Across the United States, nursing homes have emerged as hotspots for coronavirus.

That has huge implications for a number of places, but particularly for states like Florida 鈥� where people over 65 make up .

The Miami Herald has been trying to find out how many people in elder care facilities have tested positive for the illness, and which areas have been hit hardest. But they鈥檝e run up against a roadblock: their own government.

The office of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis hasn鈥檛 just refused to release the data; it applied pressure to  The Miami Herald鈥榮 law firm to get them to abandon a planned public records lawsuit. The political pressure succeeded, at least in part. The Herald still plans to file the lawsuit this week, but through a different firm.

Miami Herald publisher and executive editor Aminda Marqu茅s Gonz谩lez :

鈥淲e are disappointed that the governor鈥檚 office would go so far as to apply pressure on our legal counsel to prevent the release of public records that are critical to the health and safety of Florida鈥檚 most vulnerable citizens [鈥�] We shouldn鈥檛 have had to resort to legal action in the first place. Anyone with a relative in an elder care facility has a right to know if their loved ones are at risk so they can make an informed decision about their care.鈥�

Critics slammed Gov. DeSantis for his response to the pandemic. He didn鈥檛 issue a stay-at-home order , he鈥檚 repeatedly  , and he was sharing misinformation about Covid-19 as recently as last Thursday 鈥� when he .

The Miami Herald鈥檚 Carol Marbin Miller has been covering elder care in Florida for more than 20 years. We talk to her about her reporting, which led to the lawsuit she鈥檚 now a plaintiff on 鈥� and how the Heraldisn鈥檛 the only local newsroom fighting to get the right data.

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