Immersed in one pandemic, Dr. Alex Garza saw the second one coming.
In December, long before he was picked to head the , Garza, one of the nation鈥檚 leading experts on public health and emergency medicine, in the journal of the Catholic Health Association:
鈥淚n many ways, however, infectious diseases are similar to gun violence. They affect the poor and vulnerable disproportionately and can span from small intense episodes, such as a case of meningitis or sepsis, to full-blown disasters, such as the H1N1 pandemic or recent Ebola virus outbreaks.鈥
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Then COVID-19 arrived and Garza found himself in the perfect storm.
Nearly every day for months, he鈥檚 stood before the podium explaining the often grim statistics of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the St. 不良研究所导航网址 region, most recently with the infection count breaking records many days. Behind the scenes, he鈥檚 advising civic and political leaders like Mayor Lyda Krewson and County Executive Sam Page and other health officials who have to make the daily unpopular choices to try to stem the tide of the once flattening but now rising curve of the pandemic.
Lately those decisions 鈥 shutting down youth sports and preparing for most public schools to not fully open in the fall 鈥 are unpopular with a segment of society. As a father of teenagers who want to go to school and participate in youth sports, I understand the emotions.
But sadly, we are where we are because in the Venn diagram of this pandemic, many of the same people trying to make political points about the opening or closing of schools or the playing or suspending of youth sports are the same folks who early in the pandemic followed the advice of President Donald Trump and many of his fellow Republicans by acting like this was no big deal, a hoax, the flu. Masks? What masks. Open the economy now!
So it is with St. 不良研究所导航网址 County Councilman Tim Fitch. Last week, on social media, the Republican went after Garza, mimicking those in the White House who tried to turn Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation鈥檚 epidemiologist-in-chief, into a lightning rod for criticism, rather than the voice of reason he has been.
鈥淒r. Alex Garza appears to be a very qualified physician,鈥 Fitch wrote on Twitter. 鈥淗e鈥檚 also a political appointee of Sam Page. Dr. Garza鈥檚 wife was a staffer for Claire McCaskill and was under consideration for a paid post in the Page administration. #QuestionEverything.鈥
Dr. Alex Garza appears to be a very qualified physician. He's also a political appointee of Sam Page. Dr. Garza's wife was a staffer for Claire McCaskill and was under consideration for a paid post in the Page administration.
鈥 Tim Fitch (@ChiefTimFitch)
Ah yes, he has ties to Democrats, so he can鈥檛 possibly be telling the truth. Where have we seen this playbook before?
To be clear, Garza was appointed to lead the pandemic task force not by Page but by his fellow medical professionals. But, yes, he sits on a county jail oversight committee, and was appointed by Page to the dormant Board of Freeholders. So, too, by the way, was local businessman Mark Mantovani, who is now running for county executive in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary against Page, along with county Assessor Jake Zimmerman and Jamie Tolliver.
That鈥檚 the context here. Fitch, a Page rival, is trying to use COVID-19 to make political points.
Sadly, that will do absolutely nothing to flatten the curve, as too many people follow his lead, and some of those people gather in groups too large, and refuse to wear masks or follow health guidance, and the pandemic rages. Fitch implies, with no evidence, that Garza鈥檚 advice should be questioned because he has 鈥渢entacles attached to Sam Page.鈥
If we鈥檙e going to be in the business of questioning tentacles in a pandemic, how about Fitch鈥檚? In his day job, well, one of his day jobs, he works for Emerson, whose CEO, David Farr, is a member of one of the task forces Trump announced as the 鈥淥pening Our Country Council鈥 in April, when the pandemic was still raging and too many governors pushed too quickly to ignore the advice of people like Garza and open the country up too rapidly.
Fitch had his own such 鈥淩eopen St. 不良研究所导航网址 County鈥 plan which he and his fellow Republicans pushed in April. The lessons of opening too early, of not wearing masks, of not trying hard enough to properly social distance, are being learned the hard way now, as the curve heads the wrong direction and schoolhouse doors remain, mostly, closed.
Fitch says he鈥檚 never talked to Farr about the pandemic. I take him at his word.
Garza, for what it鈥檚 worth, declined to comment on Fitch鈥檚 attempt to draw a political inference where there shouldn鈥檛 be one. He鈥檚 too busy trying to flatten a curve that would look a lot better if elected leaders did more listening to the experts and less playing to the understandably frustrated crowd.