Board candidate, vaccine skeptic Benjamin Yu talks about how COVID-19 got him to the ICU – Orange County Register

Council candidate Benjamin Yu was unvaccinated as he celebrated the New Year in Las Vegas. A week later, when he returned home, the Lake Forest resident fell ill with COVID-19 and his oxygen levels were so dangerously low that a local hospital placed him in intensive care.

The previously healthy 39-year-old said he had lost “weight, stamina and strength” in the past two weeks. Family and friends who helped take care of Yu were also sick. Sometimes, he says he wants to bang his head against the wall to “relieve the pain and the hopelessness.”

As of Thursday, Yu was still on oxygen at home and had difficulty speaking. But he used text messages to announce that he believes he is now on the road to recovery.

In “later hindsight,” Yu said he realized that getting the vaccine “could reduce the severity or duration of this episode.” (Data shows unvaccinated adults 13 times more likely to be hospitalized and 20 times more likely to die from the virus.) Yu said he’s considering getting vaccinated when he’s well, “maybe after a few months.” And he is encouraging others to wear N95 masks and practice good hygiene as the Omnicron variant spikes.

“It’s not just for ourselves, but for others,” Yu said.

As news of Yu’s condition spread online over the past week, the Republican’s brush with severe COVID-19 has become the latest focus in the partisan battle over this public health crisis. .

Several people on the left were arrested as Yu was hospitalized – which came just days after the death of a local GOP activist Kelly Ernby, everyone not vaccinated and who Yu calls “a great friend” – as the latest example of someone suffering the consequences of a bad decision that reflects misinformation coming from the right.

While Yu occasionally shares social media posts that cast doubt on conventional medical advice about COVID-19, he dismisses the “anti-vaxxer” label. He said he just had a “wait and see attitude” because he feels a vaccine is being developed quickly and he is not considered to be at high risk for serious illness. (Decades of coronavirus research and mRNA vaccine development combine with a sense of global urgency.) accelerate the development of vaccines, which federal health officials currently recommend for most people 5 years of age and older.)

Meanwhile, some characters on the right also take advantage of Yu’s struggle to circulate more misinformation.

Amy Phan West, a Republican in 2020 who lost her run for Congress and will run for re-election this year, said via Facebook that Yu, whom she identifies as a friend, is under pressure. but refused to let hospital doctors treat him with remdesivir. Although antiviral drugs have been Clinically proven To help reduce the duration and severity of COVID-19 in patients, West’s site featured comments from advocates calling remdesivir “a pathway to a ventilator” and saying that “if used Using it is a crime.”

Remdesivir has been targeted by some people on the right Anthony Fauci, who many Republicans feel undermines President Donald Trump when it comes to the need for coronavirus safety measures. Fauci announced in April 2020 that the drug had shown great promise, and it has since been approved by the FDA.

Shruti Gohil, associate medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine School of Medicine, on Thursday described remdesivir as a sometimes “lifesaving” drug for COVID-19 patients. While there may have been some conflicting studies on remdesivir and many other treatments in the early days of the pandemic, Gohil pointed to nearly two years of solid evidence that it can help reduce the duration and severity of illness. severity of COVID-19 cases. The drug was given to Trump, among others, and Gohil describes it as a “pillar” of treatment regimens.

Yu says West was wrong about him being pressured into taking remdesivir. He said he had never talked to her about his medical decisions, and added that he still didn’t understand the “political buzz” over remdesivir. He said he followed recommendations from experts when he went to the hospital.

“I don’t mix politics with my health,” he said. “Please don’t put words in my mouth. I can speak for myself”.

West did not respond to a request for this story. Westminster residents are running for Parliament in the new waterfront District 47 against Representative Katie Porter, D-Irvine, and other GOP candidates.

West previously declined to answer a question about whether she was vaccinated. She and Ernby are both speakers in December at a Irvine protests against vaccine missions. She also frequently shares social media posts that cast doubt on the effectiveness of prevention and treatment methods related to the pandemic, falsely claiming that masks are not effective against COVID. In November, she posted: “I remember when we treated the virus with warm soup, vitamin C and lots of rest… instead of Communism.”

Yu, Chinese-American, used to his campaign appearances with references to “the Democratic Party’s slide toward socialism, reminding many of us of the communism we fled in China.” But on Thursday, he said, “COVID, like past outbreaks, looks like it’s stuck with us for (a) long time to come. The difference is that COVID is more severe, contagious, and often deadly, especially for high-risk groups, so we only have to face and deal with it from the public and from individuals. opinion). ”

Yu grew up in New York and joined the Army after September 11. He now serves on the Lake Forest Transportation and Parking Commission and on the boards of several community organizations while pursuing public office. .

In 2020, Yu runs for election Seat of the 68th Guild against GOP incumbent Steven Choi and two Democratic challengers but failed to pass the March primaries. He also lost a run in November for the board of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

This year, Yu once again ran for the Council against a fellow Republican. After redistricting the region once in a decade, he will challenge Newport Beach Assemblywoman Diane Dixon for the new 72nd Congressional seat, which covers coastal Orange County north and stretches east through the countryside. His hometown is Lake Forest. He hopes to start exercising again once he gets well.

Yu said he wasn’t sure how he contracted the virus. He said he felt fatigued and some other usual symptoms while in Las Vegas during the holidays, so he visited the emergency room of the Veterans Hospital, where he got the results. positive for COVID-19. A doctor gives an IV injection, then asks him to rest. He then went back to the VA emergency room in Vegas, where he was given steroid injections.

After coming home to Orange County about a week ago, he started to feel worse. He said he was briefly admitted to the ICU at Saddleback Medical Center because of low oxygen levels. He asked to be taken home with an oxygen machine so he can recuperate with his family and dog Max while letting the hospital use its resources for those who need them most.

For the attention his battle with COVID-19 has gathered online, garnering tweets like “I tested negative for sympathy,” Yu said, “Social media doesn’t work.” must be a fun public place.” He said he’s changed some of his previous posts so that only close friends can see them. But he said he also receives lots of well wishes and prayers, which he says “gives me great comfort and strength to relax and recover.”

The deaths of two Orange County residents were reported Thursday, according to county health department data. Another 1,072 people were hospitalized, with 168 in the ICU. Nearly 6,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Orange County since the pandemic began.

Orange County residents can get free COVID-19 vaccinations, boosters, testing and other resources at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com.