Coronavirus pandemic backlash putting public health leaders at risk
State and local public health officials have found themselves at the center of a political storm as they combat the pandemic.
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Tisha Coleman has lived in close-knit Linn County, Kan., for 42 years and never felt so alone.
As the public health administrator, sheâs struggled every day of the coronavirus pandemic to keep her rural county along the Missouri border safe. In this community with no hospital, sheâs failed to persuade her neighbors to wear masks and take precautions against COVID-19, even as cases rise. In return, sheâs been harassed, sued, vilified and called a Democrat, an insult in her circles.