Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody Receiving Threats: Report

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office is investigating threats against the county’s top health officer, according to published reports.

Dr. Sara Cody has faced pushback from critics of county orders aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus, and the rhetoric has devolved into threats, The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Cody gained national prominence early on in the pandemic after architecting shelter-in-place orders that went into effect in six Bay Area counties on March 17. She was heralded the "Bay Area's Dr. Anthony Fauci" in a San Jose Mercury News profile published earlier this year.

The threats against Cody were first reported by The Silicon Valley Business Journal.

“We are aware of the threats made against Dr. Cody and it is under investigation,” Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Low said in a statement Tuesday, according to The Mercury News report.

The incidents follow a disturbing trend.

Dr. Nichole Quick resigned as Orange County's Chief Health Officer amid threats after ordering residents to wear face coverings in public. The order was lifted after Quick stepped down, and COVID-19 cases have since ballooned, with the county reporting more than 300 new cases over this past weekend, the largest spike since the outbreak began, KCRW reports.

Quick is among four Californa health officers who’ve resigned within the last two months, CalMatters reports. Health officers in Nevada, Yolo and San Benito counties were the others.

Ohio’s state health director, Amy Acton, resigned amid legal challenges to health orders and protests in front of her home. Wisconsin’s health director, Jeanne Ayers, has also faced calls to step down according to the CalMatters report.

A Northern California health officer who asked not to be identified over concerns for their safety told CalMatters: “Things have gotten ugly.”

“The health officers are kind of in this position where everything that everyone is angry about is the health officer’s fault,” the health officer said.

The health officer told CalMatters they’d received death threats by email and social media, and that protesters had shown up at their home.

“It … makes you feel that there is nowhere that’s safe,” the health director said.

Seven California health directors have resigned since the pandemic began, according to The Mercury News report.

Health Officers Association of California Executive Director Kat DeBurgh said she wasn’t aware of specific threats against the Santa Clara County health officer but described the attacks on public health officials as “alarming and disappointing,” according to The Mercury News report.

“Public comment is an important part of making public policy. But instead of attacking the policy, they’ve started attacking the person.”

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