St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

Nothing is new under the sun when it comes to battling COVID-19, a state public advocate said in a recent news report.

Folks know what they should do to reduce rates of infection during the ongoing pandemic; it's just a matter of getting them to do it, Michigan Association of Local Public Health President Nick Derusha said in a Bridge Michigan report.

"I wish I had a great idea of something new that we could try or something that would allow people to embrace and coalesce around," Derusha said, according to Bridge Michigan. "I think the fact is that the things we need to do to beat the virus are pretty simple, and I think we know them."

Part of the difficulty in getting people to adapt to "pretty simple" ways to combat COVID-19 has been the equally difficult task of getting public officials onboard.

Earlier this month, incoming Michigan House Speaker Rep. Jason Wentworth (R-Farwell) dismissed as a "press stunt" a request of the Republican-led Legislature by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for a mask mandate, according to The Detroit News.

"She's done this through DHHS orders, yet continues to not work with the Legislature," Wentworth said in a Crain's Detroit Business report. "But instead choose a press conference at the time when she should be taking our hints -- we've reached out to her several times."

Taking COVID-19 seriously also isn't getting much good-faith support at the national level. President Trump contracted -- and apparently recovered from -- COVID-19 last month but still appears maskless in public and at rallies, and is often dismissive of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci and other well-credentialed health experts, according to ABC News.

For his part, Derusha has spent years in contact tracing, disease control and prevention, and pandemic planning, according to Bridge Michigan.

But he and other public health officials "were caught off-guard by the political pushback," according to Bridge Michigan.

Derusha has found that "disheartening," particularly for those who have worked with few days off since March, only to be publicly insulted at multiple levels, he told Bridge Michigan.

"We definitely understand that folks are tired of the virus," Derusha told Bridge Michigan. "They're fatigued with the measures that need to be in place and the things we need to do. We sympathize. We're tired as well."