COVID-19 killed a thousand Wisconsinites in three weeks. These residents don’t see the danger. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Howard Hardee (Wisconsin Watch)
December 12, 2020
Dantrusts practically nothing the media and medical establishments say about theCOVID-19 pandemic. He considers the threat overblown. And saying as much onTwitter has triggered some heated arguments.
“Youquestion anything, you get told you’re going to kill grandma or you’re doingsomething wrong, and you’re made to feel like you’re unpatriotic for notputting on a mask,” he told Wisconsin Watch.
Danof Muskego, Wisconsin, is an active voter who’s worked for the past severalyears at a restaurant. He requested that Wisconsin Watch omit his last name forfear of online harassment. He counts himself as one of the few people watchingthe “real world,” unlike those who “live in ignorance.”
Believingthat “both sides of the aisle are completely corrupt,” Dan characterizesCOVID-19 stay-at-home measures as a deliberate attempt by Democraticpoliticians to “tank” the U.S. economy.
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“Ifeel like they’re trying to literally destroy businesses,” he said. “And thatfits into what I believe is the greater agenda: … Trying to get peopledependent on government income.”
He’snot alone in seeing stay-at-home orders and business restrictions as acoordinated assault on commerce rather than a last-resort measure to slow thespread of a highly infectious disease that has claimed more than a quarter of amillion lives in the United States, including more than 3,700 in Wisconsin.
Inthe spring, an estimated 1,500 protesters
gatheredat the Wisconsin State Capitol, demanding that the statewide COVID-19 lockdownbe lifted. Others blame the wearing of masks — a key public health strategy —for causing rather than preventing infection.
Overthe summer, members of the Appleton City Council were forced to bat downunfounded rumors that contact
tracers were surveilling residents. And in an extreme example,staffers at the Milwaukee Health Department recently received death threats for enforcing COVID-19 orders,according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Misinformationhas been a destructive force working against the state’s coronavirus response,said Dr. Jeff Pothof, chief quality and safety officer with UW Health.
“Idon’t think any of us thought, when the pandemic started, that one of thebiggest barriers we’d have to overcome would be misinformation from people whohave no idea what they’re talking about,” he said.
Skepticsinterviewed by Wisconsin Watch include people who embrace the increasinglypopular QAnon conspiracy theory, are generally suspicious of vaccinations,consume nontraditional medical advice and value personal freedom above whatthey believe are exaggerated public health considerations. They alsoacknowledge that their beliefs have put them crossways at work and with family.
Conspiratorialthinking is common during national crises, said Dietram Scheufele, acommunications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studiespublic attitudes and policy dynamics surrounding emerging science.
“It’spartly human nature,” Scheufele said, adding that such theories have beenfueled by government officials including President Donald Trump.
Scientistshave been tasked with
striking down misinformation on COVID-19 while their own  understanding of the new coronavirus evolvesin real time — leading to confusion, skepticism and even denial around therespiratory disease.
“Weknew that we would produce a lot of science that would turn out to be wrong,”Scheufele said. “You make a mistake in the spotlight with 330 million Americanswatching, that mistake — maybe a small one — will be seen by everybody.”
The roots of denialism
Thatso many people believe the pandemic isn’t real, or at least isn’t a big deal,is partly the work of mind mechanisms known as biased assimilation andmotivated reasoning.
“Itdoesn’t really matter what you tell me because I’m just going to fit it into myexisting belief system, and I’m really not going to change what I think,”Scheufele said, describing the phenomena. “Of course, during a time like apandemic — where we do need to change behaviors, we do need to change ourinteractions with one another and our daily routines — that’s just utterlydysfunctional.”
Thisdenialism plays into a looming issue — vaccination — which could prove criticalas the world moves into a sensitive new phase of the pandemic. While nationsrace to develop multiple coronavirus vaccines for distribution, many U.S.residents say they will not take them.
Havingworked in education for 28 years, “Susan” said she would walk away from her jobat a school district in northern Wisconsin if she is required to be vaccinatedagainst the coronavirus. Susan asked Wisconsin Watch to use a pseudonym becauseshe fears coming out against vaccination could jeopardize her career.
“Alot of people in our school district and in the health care field up here feelthe same exact way; they do not want it,” she said. “It was done way too fast.”
Roughlythree in five U.S. adults said they “would definitely or probably” get aCOVID-19 vaccine in a national survey conducted by Pew Research Center inNovember — up from about half of respondents in September. But that means two infive do not plan to get vaccinated.
Susanbelieves the pandemic is real but overhyped. She tested positive for COVID-19on Sept. 29, after falling ill with similar symptoms in January. (She believesshe caught the coronavirus twice.) After missing nearly a month of work betweenthe two bouts of illness, she’s still short of breath and has difficultywalking down the hallway at work.
Mixed mask messages breed distrust
Susanblames the mask she is required to wear on the job for her labored breathingand generally disapproves of Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate. She doesn’t thinkmasks help slow the spread of COVID-19, insisting that they instead represent ahealth hazard.
“Ithink that since the mask mandate went into effect, it got worse in northernWisconsin,” she said.
Whathappened in northern Wisconsin was not unique, however. The Upper Midwest,which was spared the surge that hit New York in April and early May, beganseeing an increase in COVID-19 infections this summer that has continued intothe winter in states with a variety of mandates around masking.
Andno evidence supports the claim that wearing a mask is harmful toyour health. But early in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention discouraged mask-wearing by the general public unless they werehaving COVID-19 symptoms.
TheCDC reversed course on
April 3,which caused some to question the agency’s advice. Subsequent studies haveverified that masks protect wearers and others from the sprayof respiratory droplets of virus when worn over the nose and mouth. The CDC recently recommended “universal mask wearing” for allindoor activity outside an individual’s home and for outdoor activities wheresix feet of social distancing cannot be maintained.
Althoughshe’s fiercely opposed to wearing masks and taking a COVID-19 vaccine, Susanfavors another statewide stay-at-home order to combat the virus that has takenher breath away. And she trusts public health officials such as Dr. AnthonyFauci  — sometimes.
“DoI believe Dr. Fauci? Damn right I believe him. He’s damn good at what he does,and I am a firm believer in him,” she said, pausing. “Except for the mask partof it. I don’t believe that.”
‘I do not need to be afraid’
JulieDrigot believes that “wearing a mask is absolutely insane.”
“Keepingpeople locked up is not ever going to be normal, and wearing diapers across mymouth is never going to be normal,” she said, adding that wearing masks makesher dizzy.
Acareer teacher, Drigot recently moved to the little hamlet of Little Prairie tofulfill her dream of running a small farm school; a handful of children visither a couple of times a week for instruction.
Drigotsaid she was “paralyzed with fear” during the early days of the pandemic. Assomeone with a pre-existing medical condition, she was afraid that “this wasgoing to kill me.”
Shewent looking for information sources that were more reassuring. Drigot consultsa number of websites known to produce pseudoscientific content, such as TheHighWire with Del Bigtree, a major voice in the national anti-vaccinationmovement.
Thewebsite has promoted anti-mask sentiment and the debunked “Great Reset” conspiracy theory, which claims world leadersorchestrated the pandemic to destroy capitalism and take control of the globaleconomy.
InJuly, Bigtree’s YouTube account was deactivated for
pushing misinformation about vaccines and COVID-19, including his suggestion thatpeople should intentionally expose themselves to the coronavirus.
Drigottakes issue with the “censorship” of voices like Bigtree’s. All viewpointsshould be shared freely, she said.
“Ican make up my own mind, thank you very much, right? That’s my attitude,”Drigot said.
‘Looking for the truth’
Describinghimself as a politically “middle of the road,” Dan admits to having a historyof conspiratorial thinking. But he takes issue with the term “conspiracytheory,” which he says has been used to discredit truth-seekers.
“Lookingfor the truth, you kind of guide yourself there, and eventually you come toyour own understanding of what’s going on,” he said.
Inmild-mannered tones, Dan described his belief in QAnon — the baseless far-right theory that Trump is helping to expose acabal of Satan-worshipping, child-cannibalizing celebrities, journalists andpoliticians. Dan said he began following QAnon since it emerged on theanonymous message board 4Chan in October 2017.
“Asmuch as the media attacks it,” he said, “it makes it more legit to me.”
He’swary of how quickly the vaccines were developed and wonders whether the “endgame” is forced vaccinations. All evidence is refutable, he said, and, “There’sno real information.”
Arguinghas caused difficulty in Dan’s personal life. He used to talk freely aboutpolitics with his mother, but that changed during Trump’s presidency, he said.
“We’rebeing pitted against each other, and it doesn’t feel very good,” Dan said.“It’s terrible. It’s not fun to be living in this.”
Howard Hardee is a Madison-based
journalist who created a misinformation toolkit for consumers funded by the Craig Newmark Philanthropies. He is a fellow
at First Draft, an organization that trains journalists to detect and report on
disinformation. Wisconsin Watch (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin,
other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism
and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by
Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison
or any of its affiliates.