"Bring Hearts and Souls Back."

November 2, 2020 7:43 AM

Dr. Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health, gives her first interview since leaving government service to Paige Williams at The New Yorker. She was the first woman to hold the position.

In the early days of the 2020 pandemic, Republican Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine received high marks from the press and the public for his response to the disease. Much of this was due to his director of public health, Dr. Amy Acton. Daily televised briefings by Acton and DeWine quickly became "must-watch" events for Ohioans. A poll in March 2020 gave Acton a 64% favorablilty rating. A Facebook fan club accrued 130,000 members, and a bobblehead figure was quickly produced.

By early summer pressure (including lawsuits and death threats) from Ohio Republicans, businesses, and enraged Trump voters led her to conclude that she would soon have to violate her Hippocratic oath, and she resigned on June 11.

"After leaving the government, Acton heard Mike Trivisonno, a conservative talk-radio host in Ohio, say that if his key adviser quit during a crisis, he’d want to punch him in the face. Acton told me, “I’m from Youngstown, and I’m kind of scrappy, and a part of me wanted to say, ‘All right, mister, you’re so tough—let’s go.’ But what echoed in my mind was the work that I did in Rwanda, post-genocide. The genocide started with these radio talk shows that built up this ‘othering’ of people. It dialled up and dialled up and dialled up. It’s not that one day the President gets taken out and everyone grabs a machete and literally goes after their neighbor; it happened over time.”"

posted by soundguy99 (6 comments total)

On October 23rd, the day before a Trump rally in Circleville, Ohio, I met an old man in a Navy cap who complained that the annual pumpkin festival had been cancelled and that the public was being forced to stay outdoors. When I explained that this was meant to protect people, he said, “From what?”

And that's the whole pandemic wrapped up. The loud never ending 'But my freedoms' just drowned all the information out.

And then there was this kicker:
Trump won Ohio in 2016, with more than fifty-two per cent of the vote. He is expected to win the state again, though narrowly.

Yep. We're doomed.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:53 AM on November 2, 2020 [4 favorites]

Part of the reason for the disconnect in Ohio is when people read headlines like these:

Ohio reports 3,303 new coronavirus cases, 2 new deaths

Cleveland reports 44 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths: Sunday update

Lots of cases, little death = people asking 'what's the big deal?'
posted by tgrundke at 9:55 AM on November 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

Lots of cases, little death = people asking 'what's the big deal?'

That was Sunday, which for administrative reasons typically has below-average reported deaths. The day before that, ten new deaths were reported in the state of Ohio.
The day before that, 16 deaths.
The day before that, 19 deaths.
The day before that, 17 deaths.
The day before that, 22 deaths.

If a serial killer was doing these kinds of numbers, would people be saying "what's the big deal?"
posted by theodolite at 12:37 PM on November 2, 2020 [10 favorites]

From talking to people in Cleveland, if someone dies of Covid and lives in a care facility, is over like 80, and has underlying conditions, it really doesn't count because the thought is they would have died of any ailment. When the popular former weatherman Dick Goddard passed of Covid, this was a discussion point.
posted by greatalleycat at 1:24 PM on November 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

Lots of cases, little death = people asking 'what's the big deal?'

theodolite's question is a good one, but I would add that for every death that shows up, how many people suffer some kind of long-term damage to their heart, lungs or brain?
posted by The Absolute Victory Unlosing Ranger at 1:29 PM on November 2, 2020 [7 favorites]

Good question, @The Absolute. Good question.
posted by tgrundke at 3:15 PM on November 2, 2020