TABLE 1—
Characteristics of Media-Profiled Cases of Actual or Threatened Position Departures Among Public Health Officials: United States, March 2020‒January 2021
| State Leadership (n = 51) | Local Leadership (n = 205) | |||||||||||
| Total, No. (%) | Resigned (n = 26), No. | Fired (n = 6), No. | Retired (n = 11), No. | Other, Left Position (n = 5), No. | Not Departed (n = 3), No. | Total, No. (%) | Resigned (n = 94), No. | Fired (n = 14), No. | Retired (n = 47), No. | Other, Left Position (n = 19), No. | Not Departed (n = 31), No. | |
| Gender | ||||||||||||
| Female | 27 (53) | 13 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 127 (62) | 24 | 8 | 23 | 9 | 24 |
| Male | 22 (43) | 12 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 67 (33) | 31 | 5 | 20 | 4 | 7 |
| Other or undetermined | 2 (4) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 (5) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||||||
| White | 42 (82) | 20 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 153 (75) | 74 | 11 | 35 | 10 | 23 |
| Black | 2 (4) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 (4) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Asian | 2 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 (6) | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Hispanic | 1 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (3) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Other or undetermined | 4 (8) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 (12) | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 3 |
| Years in position | ||||||||||||
| 0–5 | 36 (71) | 21 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 100 (49) | 61 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 13 |
| 6–10 | 8 (16) | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 30 (15) | 10 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 6 |
| 11–15 | 2 (4) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 (7) | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| ≥ 16 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 (11) | 3 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown | 5 (10) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 38 (19) | 13 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 9 |
| Ruralitya | ||||||||||||
| Urban | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 53 (26) | 19 | 5 | 17 | 3 | 9 |
| Rural | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 110 (54) | 57 | 9 | 16 | 14 | 14 |
| Mixed | 51 (100) | 26 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 42 (20) | 18 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 8 |
| Region | ||||||||||||
| Northeast | 10 (20) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 (4) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| South | 18 (35) | 11 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 39 (19) | 19 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 3 |
| Midwest | 9 (18) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 75 (37) | 29 | 6 | 19 | 7 | 14 |
| West | 14 (27) | 6 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 83 (40) | 44 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 13 |
| Reporting of harassment: harassment described | 31 (61) | 16 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 81 (40) | 37 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 29 |
| Reporting of recent policy event | ||||||||||||
| Mask mandate | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 (8) | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Business closure or gathering restrictions | 1 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 (7) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| (Dis)continuation of public health measures | 4 (8) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24 (12) | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Other or multipleb | 6 (12) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 (11) | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| None or undetermined | 40 (78) | 22 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 129 (63) | 6 | 7 | 42 | 18 | 6 |
Note. NA = not applicable. Data extracted from media reports and researcher-procured supplementary sources, including departments’ and officials’ social media accounts, local boards of health meeting minutes, other local reporting, and personal correspondence.
a
Rurality was measured using the Rural Health Grants Eligibility tool, where “rural” is defined as regions not containing urban areas of more than 50 000 residents.16
b
Includes policies to facilitate contact tracing or other COVID-19 mitigation strategies described as co-occurring policies.