‘The Death Threats Started Last Month’: Public Health Officials Targeted By Some Frustrated Americans
The public health experts who have in many places become the face of the state or local response to the pandemic are becoming targets of public frustration to the point of receiving death threats. “They’re becoming villainized for their guidance. In normal times, they’re very trusted members of their community," said Lori Tremmel Freeman, the chief executive of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
The New York Times:
Health Officials Had To Face A Pandemic. Then Came The Death Threats.
Leaders of local and state health departments have been subject to harassment, personal insults and death threats in recent weeks, a response from a vocal and angry minority of the public who say that mask requirements and restrictions on businesses have gone too far. One top health official, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, issued a statement on Monday condemning attacks on public health directors and disclosing that she faced repeated threats to her safety. (Bosman, 6/22)
CNN:
Some Public Health Officials Are Resigning Amid Threats During The Covid-19 Pandemic
During a live public briefing on Facebook last month, "someone very casually suggested" the Los Angeles County's public health director should be shot, the director said. "I didn't immediately see the message, but my husband did, my children did, and so did my colleagues," Dr. Barbara Ferrer said Monday in a statement. It's just one of the many threats of violence public health workers are facing across the nation "on a regular basis" as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, Ferrer said. (Mossburg, Waldrop and Thomas, 6/22)
The Washington Post:
Amid Threats And Political Pushback, Public Health Officials Are Leaving Their Posts
For Lauri Jones, the trouble began in early May. The director of a small public health department in Washington state was working with a family under quarantine because of coronavirus exposure. When she heard one family member had been out in the community, Jones decided to check in.The routine phone call launched a nightmare.“Someone posted on social media that we had violated their civil liberties [and] named me by name,” Jones recalled. “They said, ‘Let’s post her address. . . . Let’s start shooting.’ ” (Weiner and Eunjung Cha, 6/22)
Previous KHN coverage: Public Health Officials Face Wave Of Threats, Pressure Amid Coronavirus Response
The New York Times:
Public Health Experts Reject President’s View Of Fading Pandemic
Public health experts warned on Sunday that the coronavirus pandemic is not going away anytime soon. They directly contradicted President Trump’s promise that the disease that has infected more than two million Americans would “fade away” and his remarks that disparaged the value of evidence from coronavirus tests. A day after Mr. Trump told a largely maskless audience at an indoor rally in Tulsa, Okla., that he had asked to “slow down the testing” because it inevitably increased the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, infectious disease experts countered that the latest rise of infections in the United States is real, the country’s response to the pandemic is not working and rallies like the president’s risk becoming major spreading events. (Gorman, 6/21)
In other news on people on the front-lines of the pandemic —
Kaiser Health News/The Guardian:
Lost On The Frontline
A nursing home certified medication aide who was Navajo and could speak to residents in their Indigenous language. A travel nurse from Tennessee who felt obliged to serve when he heard New York was short-staffed in the pandemic. These are the people just added to “Lost on the Frontline,” a special series from The Guardian and KHN that profiles health care workers who died of COVID-19. (6/23)
Politico:
Swamped Mental Health And Addiction Services Appeal For Covid Bailout
Mental health and addiction treatment centers and counselors have been overwhelmed with work during the coronavirus pandemic and economic crash. But many are struggling to stay afloat amid confusion and delays over the federal bailout for the health care industry. Some have waited months for the release of promised aid. Others held out and didn't apply, believing they'd get a better deal in a future round of funding aimed at centers that see mostly low-income patients. As a result, nearly a third haven't received any of the $175 billion HHS is doling out to hospitals and other health providers on the front lines of the coronavirus response. And now, they’re appealing to the government for help. (Roubein and Ehley, 6/22)
