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| Grayson County (Wikipedia) |
"Like many other local health departments across Kentucky, his team began releasing daily coronavirus dispatches on its official Facebook page, Acquisto reports. "In the spring, Embry, himself, started appearing in front of the camera to give those updates and answer questions. Literally putting his face out there seemed to offer some comfort to his neighbors, many of whom were stuck at home, anxious about what was happening outside."
But because local health departments are often the most accessible face of the government's pandemic response, members of the public sometimes take out their frustration on them. "After a run-of-the-mill video update in late August in which dozens of offensive and explicit comments had to be deleted by staff, one commenter cussed Embry and his team out, accused them of 'fear-mongering,' and then threatened to 'come kill people like you'," Acquisto reports.
After that, Embry stopped most daily social media updates directly and began passing the information to the radio station and two weekly newspapers in the county seat of Leitchfield. Other Kentucky health departments told Acquisto they had caught similar flak on social media.
"In a Facebook post on Aug. 1, staff at Three Rivers District Health Department, which covers Carroll, Gallatin, Owen and Pendleton counties, wrote, “It is a real slap in the face to our exhausted folks to accuse us of deception'." Lake Cumberland District Health Department Director Shawn Crabtree told Acquisto, "People are often driven by misinformation. . . . It’s amazing how many people think I’m in some worldwide conspiracy."
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