Local public health officials face threats of violence amid Covid-19 restrictions

As a small, but vocal, minority of people protest restrictions placed by local officials to curb the spread of Covid-19, some have also taken to sending death and other violent threats to public health officials. The Washington Post reports, for instance, that the director of one small public health department in Washington state was harassed on her personal phone and that people posted on social media suggesting they begin shooting. The New York Times similarly reported that Barbara Ferrer, the director of Los Angeles' department of public health, had to issue a statement condemning threats to her safety. “It is deeply worrisome to imagine that our hardworking infectious disease physicians, nurses, epidemiologists and environmental health specialists or any of our other team members would have to face this level of hatred,” she told the Times.