DOH Releases Cold, Calculated Statement on COVID’s 2-Year Anniversary- Op-Ed
(The following is a Newstalk870 opinion piece) The Washington State Department of Health today (Thursday, January 20) released a statement about the marking of the 2-year anniversary since the first case of COVID was found.
STATEMENT GLOSSES OVER THE EMOTIONAL, EDUCATIONAL, ECONOMIC TURMOIL CAUSED BY STATE'S COVID POLICIES
The DOH statement was as follows:
"Today marks two years since the first case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was found in Washington and in the United States. Our state lead the nation in the early days of the pandemic response by being proactive, transparent, and tough in its fight to protect people from the fast-spreading virus.
Over the past two years, our lives have changed dramatically at school, at work, and at home. Many holidays and special events had to be put on hold until ‘safer options’ were available. In early 2021, as we reflected on one year of the pandemic, we watched as COVID-19 vaccines became available in our communities, which brought a sense of safety. As more and more people were vaccinated, we saw businesses re-open, children head back to the classroom, and people return to their everyday lives. Boosters came into play just a few months later as new variants threatened to set us back.
Now, looking back on two years of pandemic response, we can say we are proud of the countless lives that have been saved by the partnerships in and around the public health system. We want to thank everyone who has done something to make their neighbor a little bit safer during this unprecedented time."
The ONLY reference to what the public had to endure is 'whiffed' over in the second paragraph. It's been far more difficult than just holidays and special events.
WHAT ABOUT THE JUMPS IN SUICIDE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE RATES?
It was well over a year into COVID before the DOH and state began to acknowledge and even deal with the mental and emotional turmoil. Thousands of businesses were destroyed, educations disrupted, and yet the DOH only seems to care about 'safety', but it has come at a huge cost.
Teen suicide rates skyrocketed, for example, five Richland School District students tragically took their lives during the first year. The state created its infamous "snitch" list to report businesses that were not "COVID compliant." The state used the Attorney General's office to crush a handful of business operators (Slidewaters in Chelan ring a bell?) who tried to fight back so they could survive.
DOH IGNORES THE REALITY OF WHAT IS REALLY OPPRESSION IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE
The public has had to endure a seemingly never-ending series of the goalposts being moved on them. We were told the vaccines were the 'magic bullet,' then when breakthrough cases began to climb, we saw the return of mask mandates. The state fired workers who refused to get the vaccine. Vax cards are required to attend events over 1,000 people.
Just this week, the Board of Education has proposed reducing the number of school days K-12 from five to four, keeping the COVID asynchronous learning day without openly and definitively telling us why...after we fought hard to get our kids back IN the classroom.
And they wonder why more and more citizens are seeing them as disingenuous and are becoming tone-deaf to their "healthy dose of information" as they refer to themselves.
Happy Second COVID Anniversary, Washington state. Suppose DOH is blowing out any candles?