San Diego County Supervisors Declare COVID-19 Misinformation A Public Health Crisis [View all]

[Nevilledog]

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https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/sep/01/san-diego-county-supervisors-covid-misinformation/


A divided San Diego County Board of Supervisors has voted to adopt what is believed to be a first-in-the-nation policy of declaring COVID-19 misinformation a public health crisis and adopt a series of recommendations to actively combat it.

"Combating health misinformation needs to start on the ground, in counties and cities across our nation," said Board Chairman Nathan Fletcher, who authored the policy. "San Diego County took the first step by becoming the first local jurisdiction in the country to align its policies with the U.S. surgeon general's recommendations to fight health misinformation. Health misinformation is a national crisis and it requires all of us to fight against it together."

Tuesday night's vote was 3-2, with Supervisors Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson voting no. The final result came after hours of debate featuring testimony from hundreds of residents, many who opposed the measure. Fletcher characterized them as "mostly right-wing, anti-vaxxers."

Addressing opponents during the meeting, Fletcher said: "Nothing in this measure will take away anyone's right to free speech. But this will empower medical experts to lend their knowledge to provide people with info about what they may be hearing. Our efforts today are to help us in the cause to get beyond COVID-19. I can promise you that no one ever ran for public office saying, `I want to close businesses, I want to wear masks.' We want to get out of this pandemic without any closures or further mandates."

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