Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who received national attention for his refusal to apply coronavirus mask mandates, revealed on Wednesday, January 27, that he tested positive for the virus and experienced mild COVID-19 symptoms.
Bianco has said he has been quarantined at home since testing positive on Jan. 19.
“I could not taste my coffee,” Bianco said in an interview. “I was, ‘Oh, something’s wrong. ”
Bianco, 53, said he still does not have the senses of taste and smell.
The sheriff announced his diagnosis in a Facebook message, driven by what he said were false rumors that he was dying and hiding. Rumors of the disease escalated on social media on Tuesday when Bianco did not attend the Supervisory Board meeting for a discussion by the Sheriff’s Department that applied for $ 3 million in state coronavirus supplemental funding.
Bianco managed the Sheriff’s Department with phone calls and Zoom meetings.
‘People would never know I was not at work, except that the background was the kitchen instead of the office. “I had to put the dogs out a few times,” he said.
Bianco said he did not believe any of his commanders were infected as a result of possible exposure to him.
Everyone in the household, and some who do not live there, are infected, Bianco said. He believes the first to be infected was his son-in-law, a deputy who performed CPR in the same shift on a child who tested positive and fought with a man whose household was also COVID-positive.
“If I’m going to get COVID because my son-in-law did CPR on a child, I’ll take COVID any day, ‘Bianco said.
The sheriff deserved praise and criticism for his blunt comments about the coronavirus, and said at one point: “If you’re afraid of going to jail and catching the virus, do not go to jail, do not do not break the law. ” Two of his deputies died of the virus.
In November, Cal / OSHA fined the sheriff nearly $ 18,000 for violating COVID-19 regulations at the Cois M. Byrd detention center in French Valley – fines the province is appealing for.
In a YouTube video of December 4, Bianco – while asking the public to hide themselves and distance themselves from social media – accuses Gavin Newsom of trying to force provinces to enforce his stay-at-home order, which has since been lifted.
In May, Bianco told Riverside County supervisors he would not apply the country’s current business restrictions.
Although Bianco is not the only sheriff who puts public education first, his defiance has made him a hero of enemies nationwide and a popular figure in conservative media. He was interviewed on Fox News and One America News Network.
But the defiance also caused criticism.
Dolores Green, executive director of the Riverside County Medical Association, said she was concerned that the lack of enforcement would encourage large gatherings that could spread the virus.
Bianco said earlier that the coronavirus is genuine. But he said Wednesday that while he believes masks can be useful, it is not the total solution to prevent the transmission of the virus. He said he wears more masks in public to make others comfortable than to limit the chance of infection.
The sheriff said it was difficult to avoid such a widespread virus and attributed the recovery of his family to a healthy lifestyle. He said he did not intend to be vaccinated.
Bianco said he believes people with a good immune system are less likely to suffer severe COVID-19 symptoms or deaths.
‘What is not going to come out of this, and I wish it would, the MDs (doctors) will not tell it to people, the government will not tell it to people and I do not think it’s sexy enough for the media to report it no, people need to take better care of themselves. I know there are exceptions. “But with this we know that if you are not healthy, you may not recover from this,” Bianco said.
The World Cancer Research Fund International agrees that a healthy lifestyle can improve a body’s ability to resist infection.
However, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says that vaccination is an important step in preventing the virus from accumulating. And wearing a mask leads the CDC’s list of ways to slow the spread, which includes keeping at least six feet of people who are not in your home, and avoiding crowds.