An official with the Wyoming Department of Health who is working on the state’s coronavirus response said last month that the pandemic and vaccine candidates were part of communist plots to hurt the U.S. 

Igor Shepherd, the manager of the department’s readiness and countermeasures, referred to the coronavirus as the “so-called pandemic” and said the illness and efforts to bring a vaccine to market are part of a scheme by Russia and China to spread communism around the globe.

The remarks were made last month at an event held by the group Keep Colorado Free and Open and were surfaced for the first time this week.

The baseless claims come as the country sees an alarming surge in cases. More than 210,000 new coronavirus cases were tallied Friday alone, and the total number of hospitalizations reached a new high of more than 100,000. Wyoming has seen a 12.5 percent spike in cases in the past week.

Shepherd has worked for the health department since 2013 but is not in a leadership role in the agency’s coronavirus response, department spokeswoman Kim Deti told The Associated Press.

“All of the things we’ve said for months and the thousands of hours of dedicated work from our staff and our local partners on this response effort and our excitement for the hope the vaccine offers make our overall department position on the pandemic clear,” Deti said.

The remarks from Shepherd regarding a vaccine are particularly alarming given existing skepticism in the public toward a COVID-19 shot.