Damakant Jayshi
A “Marathon County Call to Action” email circulated this week ahead of a Thursday Board meeting that calls for ousting several public officials while seeking “instant national attention” by resisting any potential future health mandates related to COVID-19.
“End the liberal takeover of Marathon County,” the Sept. 21 email reads, while calling for the removal of Supervisors Kurt Gibbs, Dist. 4 Supervisor John Robinson and Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg.
The email shared with Wausau Pilot & Review and sent to county supervisors relies on dubious theories about COVID-19 and asks that people attend Thursday’s meeting to voice “support of the NO MANDATES RESOLUTION.” There are currently no COVID-19 mandates or mask mandates under consideration by the city or county.
“If a motion to allow mandates is brought to the floor with a second, request a roll call vote,” the email reads. “If you feel you’re in the minority before the roll call is taken, everyone opposed simply get up and walk out of the room. INSTANT NATIONAL ATTENTION !”
The email, which refers to information by Dr. Pierre Kory, complains that Gibbs has “unilaterally decided to not allow him or any other professionals with knowledge on this subject to speak” other than during the three-minute per speaker time allotment during public comment.
Kory, MD, one of the most vocal proponents of ivermectin, got COVID-19 in August, despite taking the anti-parasitic medication on a weekly basis to ostensibly prevent the disease, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Kory has since doubled down on the drug, urging that the prophylactic dose be increased to twice per week, according to the Journal Sentinel.
The drug is “used to treat or prevent parasites in animals and in humans, isn’t a drug used to treat viruses,” says Mayo Clinic.
Kory had called ivermectin a “miracle drug” at the December 2020 Senate hearing, the Journal Sentinel reported. “If you take it, you will not get sick,” he said.
But the National Institutes of Health previously cited Dr. Kory and other doctors for failing to report receiving payments for promoting ivermectin as a drug to treat COVID-19. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved use of this drug to treat or prevent COVID-19 and Mayo officials say taking large doses can cause serious harm.
Kory did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
The Sept. 18 email circulating in the county also makes this point: “Nearly all, if not all, of these Supervisor are non medical individuals. How are they supposed know how or why to vote?”
A resolution against non-existent COVID-19 mandates was organized largely by Supervisor Stacey Morache. Her medical experience is unclear, as her bio information during the most recent election campaign lists her education as majoring in education interpretation for the deaf.
The Marathon County Board meeting is at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21. Wausau Pilot is continuing to monitor this story.
