The old lesson that, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is not in the memories of the Stanislaus County Supervisors. As a result, they’ve made decisions that indirectly resulted in loss of life and illnesses that might have been prevented.
On May 7, 2020, the Board of Supervisors deliberately sought to override California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recommendations for controlling the Corona pandemic by applying for a variance in reopening requirements.
When the supervisors made the decision to let bars reopen later that month, they supported the right of citizens to get drunk in public places or party over the right of everyone else to live in a community free of disease. The Board overlooked its obligation to use best practices to protect the public from a virus sometimes fatal to older citizens and that sends younger folks to the emergency room.
With the decision to reopen bars, Stanislaus County’s Health Director, Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, was demoted from a health officer to a politician. As an epidemiologist, she knows how viruses spread. But her bosses on the Board of Supervisors said that they wanted the bars reopened. Her job depends on the goodwill of the Board, so she had to give them political cover by issuing an okay to reopen the bars.
The decision to reopen was made before all Covid-19 testing centers were operational. The testing center for Modesto’s west side opened after bars were given the okay to reopen. Thus, the Board made the reopening decision without data from the entire county.
The justification for the reopening appears in the Board of Supervisor’s Meeting records.
The Board cannot legitimately use Doctor Vaishampayan as political cover to justify the decision to reopen because they ignored recommendations of scientists at the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and thwarted the will of the governor. Had enough public testing been done? Was contact tracing in place? The spike in Covid-19 cases that quickly followed the reopening was predictable.
The Board of Supervisors compounded the reopening error by refusing to close the bars after reports of higher numbers of cases came in. Ken Carlson reported these facts in the June 30, edition of the Modesto Bee, “Stanislaus County not closing bars to reduce spread of coronavirus.”
The Board of Supervisors gave Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse permission to overlook Covid-19 related orders by the governor.
The Board has asserted that the County could easily handle any Covid 19 caseload. On May 25, 2020, Supervisor Terry Withrow posted a comment on my article in The Valley Citizen accusing me of making, “such statements as to cause panic,” and inaccurately asserted that there, “are multiple test sites in all corners of the County,” when a testing site in West Modesto was still being set up at the time. Let me remind the supervisor that there is a difference between panic and precaution.
The Supervisor also offered assurances that there would never be a shortage of hospital beds because the County has “purchased 110 beds” for “overflow use” at “the old County hospital.” Those beds are not in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of an operating hospital.
Less than two months after the Supervisor posted his comment, the July 22nd issue of the Modesto Bee reported that no Intensive Care Unit beds are presently available in Stanislaus County hospitals; they are full of critically ill patients. According to the Los Angeles Times, 6984 citizens have tested positive and 77 are dead in Stanislaus County as of July 22nd.
How long must citizens most vulnerable have to stay at home to avoid the virus? How many more months will citizens need to stay home and businesses stay closed because of the decisions of the Board and because of the inconsiderate behavior of bar patrons and others who refuse to wear facemasks in public?
Some citizens are quick to demand their rights, but ignore their obligation to protect the well-being of their fellow citizens. The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors served as an enabler for the irresponsible.
Using Defective Data to Make Bad Decisions
Ken Carlson reported in the Wednesday, July 8, 2020 edition of the Modesto Bee that while the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency reported total Covid-19 cases at 2760, the State of California site showed 3,777 positive cases, a difference of 1017.
The discrepancy indicates gross negligence in the monitoring of cases. How can good public health decisions be made in the absence of accurate and reliable data? How can citizens assess personal risk with flawed data? The Board not only had inadequate data to reopen, but defective data, too.
The Board of Supervisors is ultimately responsible for providing inadequate resources to the health department to compile accurate data. The July 22nd Los Angeles Times reported that the County did not correct the problem of flawed data until Thursday, July 16, when the discrepancy had grown to 1400 cases!
When the public discovered the existence of over 1000 more cases than what had been reported earlier, how many citizens realized that the risk of contagion had been grossly understated? How many citizens would not have ventured out had they known how pervasive the virus has become? How many citizens became sick because they were not aware of the magnitude of risk?
The Board of Supervisors appears not to value science. If they did, they would have followed CDC guidelines and adhered strictly to Governor Newsom’s recommendations, both based on science. But they chose to follow the defective suggestions of a misguided president, a science denier.
The Board authorized the premature reopening supposedly for the benefit of the local economy. As a consequence of the worst decision in county history, the economic damage will be more severe when the community is shut down for a second time.
The entire Board of Supervisors appears unfit to hold public office. They don’t understand that every citizen has a right to live in a healthy community to the extent that science makes this possible. Absent contrition, acceptance of responsibility, public apologies and improved performance from now on, the failure of each supervisor to take simple actions to protect the public makes their replacement an imperative at the next election.
Dereliction of duty by the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors and the County Health Director..
I’ve been very disappointed with how this situation was handled. As a retired health care provider, i spent a lot of time yelling at the TV in March, April, May, June…this pandemic response is something I know was thought about, practiced for, and well within the wheelhouse of our Public Health department, yet our county’s response didn’t exhibit the basic actions of test, trace, isolate, treat. Now, with PPE scarce, testing results woefully late, and completely inadequate contact tracing, we are really going to pay a high price when we can’t get care when ill. Our country has gone down a rabbit hole of political stupidity, and Stanislaus has shown how aligned most of our politicians are with a craven, morally bankrupt narcissist.
Nicely put.
All this gross incompetence and downright negligence can be laid at Republicans feet. Sorry if I ruffle some feathers here…I don’t like partisanship, but the science denial, the selfishness and downright lunacy comes from Republicans leaders, starting with our grossly incompetent president and works it’s way down to local levels. The COVID-19 infection rate is so bad all over the US, that Canada and EU are denying entry of Americans into their countries,
I know who I will NOT be voting for in future elections. I am a senior citizen, I always vote and I know many who feel the same way. The issue is not party it is life vs money.
I understand the above and have a question….. what stats do you have that point to the increase due to bars reopening? I believe there are many factors involved such as family gatherings, parks opened, no mask and no social distance.
Dear Mary,
You ask a question that no one can possibly answer. The Supervisors reopened more than just bars. Health experts singled out bars as probable cause for the spread because prople don’t wear masks or maintain social distance in most bars.
To prevent the spread of a virus, non-essential businesses that are likely vectors for the spread of a virus need to stay closed during a pandemic. That is why gyms should also stay closed unless outdoors.
Actually there is a report going around on the web, that shows that using the credit card data to plot location and activity, and looking at spikes in infection that the plaque trackers have found an increase in cases in areas where the bars, restaurants and other similar establishments were allowed to reopen, not just in our area, but everywhere. The other factors you mentioned are part of the problem as well, it’s definitely not an either/or situation.
Excellent article!
Of interest are:: how many bars does the county have; how many were open; how many patrons on average frequent these bars; how many primary cases were traced to bars; and how many of secondary cases were traced from primaries?
Good questions Frank. We have a severe deficiency in tracing capacity; the county has asked the state for help.
Agree with this article 💯!!!
I can’t wait to hear what Supervisor Withrow has to say about this article, like he did with the last one.
Mr. Frohman,
I appreciate your article. My comments submitted to the BOS that are part of the record:
Stanislaus County Board Meeting Agenda May 12, 2020
Madam Chair and Members,
My comments related to agenda item 6.1
Noe Paramo representing California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation and long-time resident of Modesto and Stanislaus County.
My comments are as follows:
1. If the Board authorizes the CEO to submit a response to the CDPH May 7, 2020 Variance memorandum, that Stanislaus County met all the requirements in the memo.
More importantly, that Stanislaus County include a containment plan to address:
• testing
• contact tracing
• protecting vulnerable communities (Latino disportionately impacted in highest case per zip codes in the county)
• acute care surge
• essential workers
• special considerations
• community engagement
• relationship to neighboring counties
2. In regards to essential workers, farmworkers are economically and medically vulnerable to COVID-19 as they continue to work to maintain the food supply chain.
Stanislaus County has approximately 24,100 farmworkers and many with mixed status families. That Stanislaus County assure that considerations include addressing:
1) PPE and workplace protections; 2) testing; 3) contact tracing with steps for
quarantine; and C-PEP outreach and education for testing, screening and healthcare.
3. Finally, to add that Stanislaus County with its $90+ million in support funding to address what is the process for a plan and how it relates to such Variance considerations.
Thank you.
maybe when you $10,000 from the Gallows you got’a try and keep the bars open….
and the ag water cheap , the minum wage down , the list is sooooo long….
http://www.fppc.ca.gov/content/dam/fppc/documents/form700/2013/County/sub2/R_Withrow_Terry.pdf
This article shows how insensitive is our County Board to the needs of our community, especially the Latino community that is being affected the most because they work in essential services to survive in this pandemic, need to work, lack information, live in more crowded and smaller homes, lack health insurance. Let’s do something. This is serious, darn it!!! We don’t need to tell our Board what to do—they know, but if they don’t, they can always ask. Let’s work together to get out of this the best way possible.
President Trump called human-caused global warming a HOAX; for many weeks, he called the the COVID-19 pandemic a HOAX.
Alan Alda writes in the current AARP magazine, “Pockets of people still think science is just another opinion.”
Science denial for political strategy has been long brewing.
In the ‘50s and ‘60s, Americans believed science is a good pathway to truth. We all knew that physics and chemistry were what saved us in WW II from having to learn German!
President Trump practices medicine without a license: he recommends hydroxychloroquine or internal cleansing with Lysol or ultraviolet light against the coronavirus; someday it will just fade away. Let’s stop testing, so there will be fewer COVID cases.
Try telling the families of over 145,000 dead Americans that COVID-19 is a hoax.
Americans can only save ourselves from the triple threats of global climate change, COVID-19, and dictatorship by freeing ourselves from our science-denying Senate and President.
Seriously, you want to blame this on Trump? Is that because he was the only one working while the House took a three month sebatical, Pelosi told everyone to “come on down”to Chinatown while calling Trump xenophobic, and Cuomo sending ill seniors back to their nursing homes? Must be Trump’s fault…
Ur in denial
Michelle, with all due respect, did 45 say those things or not? Perhaps he is not authorized to restrict citizens’ movements, but is he is elected to lead.