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August 30, 20207:00 AM ET
ANGELA HART
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Adm. Brett P. Giroir, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, testified before Congress in June on the status of the pandemic. Fauci is just one of the public health leaders and their families across the U.S. who have received death threats and harassment since the pandemic began.
As a veteran who served back-to-back tours in Iraq, I initially cringed when commentators compared the COVID-19 crisis to wartime — no bullets, no blood and no one volunteered for this.
But after my months of reporting on the pandemic, it has become painfully clear this is like war. People are dying every day as a result of government decisions — and indecision — and the death toll is climbing with no end in sight.
Less than six months into the pandemic, COVID-19 has already killed at least 181,000 Americans, more than triple the number who died in the Vietnam War, and far more than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
We are all being asked to make sacrifices for the good of our country. And we're experiencing, as a nation, a deeply traumatic event. Like war, the toll will be felt for a long time.
... Public health officers are shouldering the added anxiety that duty brings. For much of the pandemic, elected leaders have pushed responsibility — and blame — of reopening largely onto health officers in counties and states, who have worked for months without days off, giving up time with their families to attack this crisis head-on.
... Public health officials have become targets of aggressive and personal attacks. Some have seen their photos smeared with Hitler mustaches, while others have had their personal phone numbers and home addresses circulated publicly, prompting the need for round-the-clock security.
"Imagine treating American soldiers and military families with the kind of hatred and disrespect that local health officers are facing," said Dr. Charity Dean, unprompted, a day after she left her job as one of the top public health officials in Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration. "They're the ones taking all the risk, and it makes me angry to see how they've been treated."
Since the start of the pandemic, at least eight career public health officials in California have resigned, and more are considering it. But most are soldiering on.
We commemorate military leaders with medals and parades. Why not treat our public health officials with the same level of appreciation?
ANGELA HART
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Adm. Brett P. Giroir, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, testified before Congress in June on the status of the pandemic. Fauci is just one of the public health leaders and their families across the U.S. who have received death threats and harassment since the pandemic began.
As a veteran who served back-to-back tours in Iraq, I initially cringed when commentators compared the COVID-19 crisis to wartime — no bullets, no blood and no one volunteered for this.
But after my months of reporting on the pandemic, it has become painfully clear this is like war. People are dying every day as a result of government decisions — and indecision — and the death toll is climbing with no end in sight.
Less than six months into the pandemic, COVID-19 has already killed at least 181,000 Americans, more than triple the number who died in the Vietnam War, and far more than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
We are all being asked to make sacrifices for the good of our country. And we're experiencing, as a nation, a deeply traumatic event. Like war, the toll will be felt for a long time.
... Public health officers are shouldering the added anxiety that duty brings. For much of the pandemic, elected leaders have pushed responsibility — and blame — of reopening largely onto health officers in counties and states, who have worked for months without days off, giving up time with their families to attack this crisis head-on.
... Public health officials have become targets of aggressive and personal attacks. Some have seen their photos smeared with Hitler mustaches, while others have had their personal phone numbers and home addresses circulated publicly, prompting the need for round-the-clock security.
"Imagine treating American soldiers and military families with the kind of hatred and disrespect that local health officers are facing," said Dr. Charity Dean, unprompted, a day after she left her job as one of the top public health officials in Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration. "They're the ones taking all the risk, and it makes me angry to see how they've been treated."
Since the start of the pandemic, at least eight career public health officials in California have resigned, and more are considering it. But most are soldiering on.
We commemorate military leaders with medals and parades. Why not treat our public health officials with the same level of appreciation?
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