Facts

I deal in facts. Yesterday, I found them hard to find.  When social media lit up with stories of false positives at Aperion Care of Fairfield, I tried to find out the truth.

The county health department wouldn’t comment. In fact, they even pulled down the department’s Facebook page. It’s back up now, I understand.

(Editor's note: Officials with the Health Department on Friday said they never brought down their Facebook page.)

I called Aperion and talked to the administrator there. I asked about the rumors. Was Aperion re-testing the positives? He said it wasn’t Aperion’s policy to re-test. OK, clear enough.

I posted what I was told was the real story. Aperion doesn’t re-test. And in 20 minutes, an employee of the long-term care facility was on social media saying you can’t believe what you read on the radio station’s site. She’s called me out. Said I wasn’t telling the truth.

I called Aperion back. Guess what? The story changed. Yes, they did re-test the positives. Yes, one of them came back negative.

Then, at 3:00 o’clock, I got the state’s COVID death toll. There was an 80-year-old man listed from Wayne County. That’s how we found out.  I’m told the real story makes it difficult to call COVID the real cause of his death. I won’t divulge my sources.

There is a new spokesperson now to answer my future questions at the local health department….and clearly, Aperion needs to recognize the need for honesty and transparency.

In a world where half-truths make people frightened and cynical, I won’t deal in stories I heard from somebody who knows somebody who is somebody’s aunt.

I deal in facts….even when they’re hard to come by.