Orange County public health officer resigns in coronavirus controversy

Orange County’s chief health officer resigned Monday after several intense weeks defending her countywide face mask order in response to the coronavirus pandemic. D.A.’s office to charge it as murder.” Later that week, Orange County Board of Supervisors Chair Michelle Steel condemned the threat, saying, “It should never happen again.” “No one deserves to be threatened or intimidated the way she was,” Steel said at the time. He added that he was surprised and disappointed by Quick’s resignation, but declined to elaborate on her reasons for doing so aside from saying, “I do believe that all of the challenges of the job weighed in on her decision.” “It’s not an easy job,” he said, adding: “It’s not uncommon for the public staff to be working 80-hour weeks.” Quick is the third high-ranking healthcare executive to leave the county in the midst of the pandemic. He acknowledged that the position presents challenges, but said it’s also an “incredible opportunity for a qualified physician that wants to make a difference, to help their community and to be the tip of the spear in developing all of the strategies that will reduce the disease burden and save lives in Orange County.” When asked how he would reassure prospective applicants that their advice would be taken to heart — given not only the heated dispute over the mask order but the fact that county Sheriff Don Barnes said publicly that his department wouldn’t enforce it — Kim said, “You have to communicate and you have to justify.