Health workers face harassment amid pandemic

Local public health officials have faced an eruption of abuse in recent weeks while trying to manage the coronavirus outbreak in Ozaukee and Washington counties, so much so that two incidents have been referred to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

The heightened tensions come even as preparations are being made to stage the Ozaukee County Fair, despite opposition from health officials.

“People have been followed and heckled.  There’s been a constant barrage of emails” that have grown increasingly personal and threatening, Washington Ozaukee Public Health Director Kirsten Johnson said Tuesday.

Johnson said the abuse has been happening since the beginning of the pandemic but has grown in intensity and become more personalized, with public health staffers being called out by name, their phone numbers posted online and they’ve been followed while driving department vehicles.

At least one incident has been referred to the West Bend Police Department, officials said.

In response, department vehicles are being driven with the logos covered, the doors of the department’s Port Washington offices are locked and officials are no longer posting on social media, Johnson and County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said.

“Facebook shut down a whole lot of people for using threatening language, not at our request,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the hostility, which is happening nationally, has come from people on both sides of the health crisis.

“It’s coming from people who think we’re doing too much and from those who think we’re doing too little,” she said.

“There is certainly some political rancor that’s created division among people,” Dzwinel told the Executive Committee on Monday during a discussion of the situation.

Many of the attacks have been directed at Johnson herself.

“I’m the public, outward-facing person of the department, so I expect some of that. But this has escalated to a level I’ve never seen,” she said.

She said she’s been physically threatened twice. 

The atmosphere has added to the stress of her already overtaxed staff, she said.

“Our goal is just to make the community as safe as possible,” Johnson said. “You get into public health to help people, and it’s hard to motivate a staff who is being badgered for trying to do the right thing.”

Dzwinel agreed.

“Their staff is really taking a beating trying to help people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Johnson is working with Ozaukee Fair Board officials to help plan the fair, which will be held from Wednesday, July 29, to Sunday, Aug. 2.

The fair will go on this year with increased security and heightened precautions related to concerns over the coronavirus, despite opposition from Johnson and other officials.

“I did not recommend they have the fair,” she told the Human and Health Services Committee last week.

But Johnson said she has been meeting with the Fair Board “frequently” to devise a plan to keep fairgoers as safe as possible.

“We can’t dictate anything but they’ve been very thoughtful in their approach,” she said.

Committee Chairman Kathy Geracie said the decision to open the fair had received “mixed reviews.”

“Some people are very excited. Some are just appalled by it,” she said.

If there is a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases, the fair could yet be canceled.

“They assured me they would re-evaluate if there was a serious outbreak,” she said.

“They (Fair Board members) have no financial incentive to stage the fair,” Dzwinel said. “They’re just passionate about the fair.”

Because most fairs and summer festivals are canceled, the possibility exists that the Ozaukee County Fair could draw larger than usual crowds, officials say.

“We could be overrun because there is nothing else going on,” Geracie said.

Dzwinel said the fair uses a paid security force and officials are working with the Ozaukee Sheriff’s Office on a plan to increase security.

One change this year is to end beer sales at 10 p.m. “to get people off the grounds earlier,” Dzwinel said.

“We’re working with the Fair Board to address public safety concerns. They’ve made some accommodations,” he said.

County Board Chairman Lee Schlenvogt told Executive Committee members those accommodations include widening the gate between the county-owned fairgrounds and Fireman’s Park, which is owned by the Cedarburg Fire Department, to help maintain social distancing.

Barns also will have one-way flow patterns for the same reason, he said.

Mark Larson told the County Board on Wednesday that attendance would be capped at 6,000 people.

Many activities, such as the tractor pull and demolition derby, will likely be canceled, Schlenvogt said.

Fair officials did not provide details on those potential changes by press time.

Meanwhile, all 431 residents and employees at the Lasata Senior Campus in Cedarburg tested negative for the Covid-19 virus, Lasata Administrator Amanda Kohal said. The testing was done after a Lasata employee tested positive for the virus.

The new case was the fourth at the campus. No residents have been infected.