As she explained the critical role of the local public-health office, and the need for the state and the federal government to stand behind health officers in their dealings with their communities, her audience on the phone call pushed back against her. “They didn’t want to accept it,” she said. “Anyone at the federal level is so removed from the shitstorm that is the CDC that they have no clue. They wanted to believe that the CDC, or the state, could just make local health officers do what they wanted to do. You know why I think they didn’t want to accept it? It’s too terrifying. Too chaotic.
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