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Looking back over the past two years, who would have thought that public health could be such a matter of scrutiny, disagreement and mistrust?

But to be honest, in the beginning and during the good period during the COVID pandemic, the beginning of the response was slow, mistakes were made and there were changing instructions and flexible rules. This was confusing and confusing to many, and rightly so.

However, as the disease has clearly evolved, new information has come as data is collected, and as a result, recommendations have changed.

Also, the country was not prepared for a major outbreak of Covid-19. A lack of resources, inadequate manpower, certainly in part due to a cut in funding, but a simple lack of attention to the risks that have not been adequately addressed. One never knows when the next outbreak will come, but strategic preparation is key. It was unfortunate that relatively simple things like masks and other protective clothing were in short supply at first. Obviously, adequate preparation is extremely important and we need to do better.

In this ever-changing atmosphere, public health departments across the country were trying their best to educate, advise, encourage measures to contain, test and vaccinate the virus. But workers were caught up in the clash. There was pushback in many places and many public health workers were asked to resign, or simply a few for safety reasons. Everyone I know in the public health field is in it to help people and take care of them. They learned about society, medicine, nursing, and the environment, not just how to manage public reactions, but also threats. They didn’t have programs that taught them that politics could be part of everyday public health.

I hope that our public health workers appreciate the work that many people in our county do to support our community and know that they are doing it every day. As we continue to emerge from the Covid pandemic, and as it becomes easier to see public health in a balanced way, the credit for our public health workers must be loud and clear.

Dr. Lillian Vitanza Ney is a resident of Jamestown and a member of the Chauqua County Board of Health.