Kansas health secretary used misleading charts to push mask mandate

The secretary for the Kansas Department of Health and Education is facing criticism for using a misleading chart while advocating for a statewide mask mandate. Secretary Lee Norman gave a speech earlier this week detailing the difference in coronavirus cases between Kansas counties with a mask mandate and counties without one. According to a report from the Sentinel, Norman used an axis with a range of 15 to 25 to describe the number of new cases in masked counties and used a range of 4 to 14 to describe the number of new cases in counties without a mask mandate, making it appear as though counties without a mask mandate had more cases. When the two sets of data are placed on a chart with the same axis, counties without a mask mandate have fewer new cases per day than counties with a mask mandate. Norman told reporters that counties with a mask mandate were "winning the battle" against the coronavirus. "All of the improvement in the case development comes from those counties wearing masks," he said.

Michael Austin, the director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Government, accused Norman of knowingly misleading the public. The center is part of the Kansas Policy Institute, which owns the Sentinel. "At a time when the public needs government to provide sound conclusions with accurate information, it’s unfortunate the Kansas Health Secretary knowingly deceived the public into justifying his narrative," Austin said. Kansas House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a Republican, similarly criticized Norman. Norman was appointed to his position by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

"Gov. Kelly and her administration have failed Kansans time and again, but manipulating data to intentionally deceive the entire state is a new low," Hawkins said. "Tens of thousands of Kansans have lost their jobs and businesses as a direct result of Gov. Kelly’s politics-first response to the COVID pandemic, and these individuals struggling to make ends meet deserve to know the truth. It is reprehensible for a public servant like Dr. Norman that we trusted to protect our health and safety in a nonpartisan way to intentionally spread misinformation. The Kelly administration has lost all credibility," he added. The Washington Examiner has reached out to the Kansas Department of Health and Education for comment. Fifteen counties in Kansas followed Kelly's request for a mask mandate, and the remaining 90 counties in the state did not.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/kansas-health-secretary-used-misleading-charts-to-push-mask-mandate

KDHE doctored a COVID case chart to justify mask mandates

https://sentinelksmo.org/kdhe-doctored-a-covid-case-chart-to-justify-mask-mandates/

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Rep. Biggs: It's time for Fauci and Birx to 'exit left stage'

Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican, is calling for the firing of Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx from the White House coronavirus response team. “Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx have cased more damage to this nation with their COVID-19 prescriptions than can ever be restored,” Biggs tweeted along with an opinion article he wrote in Townhall headlined “Time For Fauci (and Birx) to Exit Left Stage.” “Their policies and solutions do not value and protect ALL lives. Our future depends on these two exiting the stage immediately," he said. “The sell-by date of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s usefulness has expired,” Biggs writes in his piece. “He should exit the public stage that he so obviously enjoys. His long tenure as a healthcare bureaucrat should come to an end. He has proven more adept as a showman than as a doctor.”

The Arizona Republican, elected to Congress in 2016, outlined several examples of why he feels Fauci should be given the boot, including his support of the coronavirus lockdowns, which Biggs argued caused significant damage to the country. “It was his advice to lockdown most states and local jurisdictions that resulted in the unemployment of tens of millions of Americans,” Biggs wrote. “Thousands of businesses have been permanently shuttered. People who had mortgaged their homes or leveraged their retirement savings to open businesses saw their economic dreams vanish. But, Fauci told Congress he didn’t consider these things when crafting his policies.” Biggs stated that suicide rates have “soared” and that domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol, and drug abuse have also “skyrocketed.” Suicide rates have increased in many parts of the country, and a study conducted earlier in 2020 concluded that the stress and anxiety caused by the lockdowns could destroy seven times more years of life than they could save.

Ambulance data compiled in July suggested that drug overdoses have surged since lockdowns were imposed and were up 18% in March, 29% in April, and 42% in May. “Dr. Fauci, for good or ill, has been the commandant of the federal, state, and local response to the COVID-19 virus for these last many months,” Biggs continued. “He has been the architect, if not the builder, of policies that have been inconsistent, unpredictable, and destructive.” At the end of his piece, Biggs mentions Birx and criticized her for not supporting the reopening of schools immediately. “It is past time for Fauci, and his sidekick, Deborah Birx (who embraces no school until the spread rate is 5% or less, although that number is without scientific support and appears to have been pulled like a rabbit from the hat in an arbitrary fashion) to exit stage left,” Biggs said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/rep-biggs-its-time-for-fauci-and-birx-to-exit-left-stage