California Public Health Director Resigns After Officials Find Massive Discrepancy In Reported Coronavirus Cases

California’s public health director resigned suddenly on Sunday night after unidentified failures in the state’s coronavirus reporting system created a backlog of at least 300,000 unreported cases.

Dr. Sonia Angell had held her position for less than a year and was one of the senior officials guiding the state’s coronavirus response. Angell announced her resignation in a Sunday email sent to staff at California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) and released to the public.

The letter says in part:
Since January, when we got word of repatriation flights arriving from Wuhan, China, our Department has been front and center in what has become an all-of-government response of unprecedented proportions to COVID-19. Not one of our staff has gone untouched by the changes that have occurred. Not in our professional lives or our personal lives.

I remain consistently impressed and humbled by the expertise, commitment, passion and kindness demonstrated by all of you daily. We have led with science and data, and with equity at the core of our intentions. As the first Latina in this role, I am very proud to have served this Department, Administration and our State, alongside all of you.