Dr. Sonia Angell, the California Public Health Director working with the state’s coronavirus task force to address the response to the virus, abruptly announced her resignation, effective immediately, Sunday night, KNTV reported. No specific reason was given for her resignation.
California recently announced a technical problem reporting results of coronavirus testing from an independent lab, a problem resulting from an out-of-date electronic security certificate that delayed the processing of 300,000 cases around the state.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the positions Angell held, as director of the Department of Public Health and as a state public health official, will be assigned to two people in the future.
In her resignation letter, Angell praised the work and dedication of her colleagues during the pandemic. “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,” Angell wrote. “Not one of our staff has gone untouched by the changes that have occurred. Not in our professional lives or our personal lives.”