Unanticipated Pandemic Outcomes: The Assault on Public Health

ABSTRACT

Groups such as Freedom Angels, Sovereign Nation, the Boogaloo Boys, and Colorado Counties for Freedom have coordinated strong pushback on public health measures in communities and have specifically targeted local health officials by generating messaging that includes personal attacks on integrity, conducting in-person demonstrations at the homes of public health officials, taking out radio advertisements against public health, and using other tactics to pressure public health officials regarding unpopular health orders and mitigation efforts. According to the resulting report, Legal Protections for Public Health Officials, 35 states and the District of Columbia have "criminal statutes punishing individuals who impede public health officials' duties with such behavior." Local health departments have been testing patients, managing case investigations and contact tracing for their communities, managing extraordinary amounts of data, providing wrap-around services forthose isolating or quarantining, hosting communitybased mass testing and vaccination sites, communicating with the public and the media, and regularly convening local partners including business, education, early child care, emergency medical services, police, fire, hospital systems, and providers. The campaign focuses on stopping the harassment of public health professionals by (1) reporting threats and violence against public health and working to hold accountable those who make take these actions;(2) asking Congress to require state and local monitoring and reporting of threats and harassment against public health workers for performing their official duties, including threats related to race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender;and (3) using existing statutes, and supporting new laws, to protect public health professionals.6 Let us all stand behind health officials and the staffs that serve their departments.