Thread by @AbraarKaran

1/ Kansas public health administrator from small town targeted & abused for telling people to wear masks; her own husband refused to mandate them in his store, got #covid19, gave it to her as well; her mother ended up getting it and died on a ventilator.

apnews.com/article/pandem…

2/ “Across the United States, state and local public health officials such as Coleman have found themselves at the center of a political storm as they combat the worst pandemic in a century.”

This will likely continue to be the biggest hindrance to stopping the epidemic IMO

3/ This targeting has been more than just public health administrators; practicing doctors are suffering as well. I have personally been targeted recently by right wing groups manipulating data (quite inelegantly at that) & information, leading to personal harassment. #covid19

4/ And remember that whether or not people believe in science, sick patients are still showing up to the hospital (some of them in that former group which changes quickly when you’re ill)— & we are still working despite being harassed. But healthcare workers are not unlimited

5/ We have been at this, albeit in waves, for 10 months. For many, incl myself, time away from clinical care when things slowed down was spent working on public health response. & we do this bc we are passionate- but navigating messy politics isn’t part of our clinical training

6/ With that being said- as a global health doctor, my informal training for 12+ years has been in figuring out how to work on the ground and get things done, despite political & social forces stacked against communities. And so, giving up isn’t part of the playbook here #covid19