The following is my op-ed in the Bucks County Courier Times.
Various political-interest groups have begun to conspire against the Bucks County Health Department and its Director Dr. David Damsker. They are levying attacks that are insincere and, more importantly, incorrect.
They attack Bucks County’s management of the pandemic, while ignoring that Bucks currently has a lower COVID-19 mortality rate than Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Northampton and Berks counties. Why aren’t they attacking the health departments and other officials in those counties? Why aren’t they praising Bucks County for achieving better outcomes than its neighbors?
They attack Bucks County’s use of modified quarantine, while ignoring that Bucks has no known cases of transmission under modified quarantine. The protocol works; attacks on it are bizarre. We should be praising Dr. Damsker for his innovative solution that has safely allowed kids to stay in school and adults to stay at work.
They attack Bucks County’s ability to keep up with contact tracing, while ignoring that Bucks County has been a recognized leader in contact tracing from the beginning. In fact, Germany is widely regarded as the world leader in contact tracing, and even they recently lost their ability to keep up. Is it fair to single out Bucks County? Other health departments in Pennsylvania never even tried. Why aren’t they being attacked?
They attack Bucks County’s attempts to provide in-person education, while ignoring the worldwide scientific consensus that school closures do more harm than good. CDC Director Robert Redfield recently said “The truth is, for kids K through 12, one of the safest places they can be from our perspective is to remain in school.” Left-leaning publications like the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and many others have recently taken a strong stance in support of in-person learning. A regional coalition of governors including Gov. Wolf (PA), Gov. Murphy (NJ), Gov. Cuomo (NY), Gov. Carney (DE), and others went as far as to say that in-person learning is safe “even in communities with high transmission rates”. They went on to say that “the more time children spend outside of school increases the risk of mental health harm and affects their ability to truly learn.”
These attacks on the Bucks County Health Department are baseless. Bucks has achieved lower COVID mortality than neighboring counties and has done so while supporting in-person education opportunities that those counties have not. If a county health department and its director are able to find creative ways to keep kids in school, keep people working, and keep COVID mortality down, shouldn’t we celebrate that? Or do we only celebrate when they do it in a manner that satisfies the political-interest groups?
