LOS ANGELES — The county’s top public health official, who has led the fight against the coronavirus, said June 22 her life has been threatened repeatedly but promised to continue to “follow the science.”

Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, issued a statement that began, as her daily briefings do, with a recounting of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in the county to date and a moment to honor those who have been lost.

Ferrer then noted that an increasing number of public health officials nationwide have been threatened with violence.

“In my case, the death threats started last month, during a COVID-19 Facebook Live public briefing when someone very casually suggested that I should be shot,” Ferrer said.

“As public health officials, we try hard not to be influenced by partisan politics or public sentiment — we must follow the science in order to save lives.