Electioneering Not Medicine

27 October 2014

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

US Politicians Grandstand on Ebola Quarantines

The US is in a tizzy over the importation of the Ebola virus in the form of medical professionals returning from the Hot Zone in west Africa. Governors Chris Christie of New Jersey and Andrew Cuomo of New York have both insisted on a 21-day quarantine of anyone who treated Ebola patients upon their return to the US. The CDC says this will actually make things in Africa worse by discouraging care-givers from going to Africa. Both governors are more interested in grandstanding than good science, however.

One is more prepared to forgive Governor Christie on the grounds that, as a member of the Stupid Party, he isn't really allowed to have rational, science-based policies. New Jersey imprisoned (sorry, quarantined) Kaci Hickox, a nurse who had tested negative for the disease, and she threatened legal action. She has been freed.

However, "New Jersey is not changing its quarantine protocol. The protocol is clear that a New Jersey resident with no symptoms, but who has come into contact with someone w/ Ebola, such as a health care provider, would be subject to a mandatory quarantine order, and a [sic] quarantined at home." Christie wrote on Twitter. "Non-residents would be transported to their homes if feasible and, if not, quarantined in New Jersey." The fact that Ms. Hickox doesn&'t have the virus never entered into the thinking of the state.

Governor Cuomo, whose name will be on the ballot in 8 days time, has said, "Some people say we're being too cautious, I'll take that criticism. If you want to call it a criticism that I want to be safer than CDC says, fine." He said the three week quarantine period was "better than the alternative," which is having people who aren't sick wandering around loose. Govenor Cuomo is at odds over this with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Fauci got his MD at Cornell, and did his internship and residency at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Governor Cuomo is a graduate of Albany Law School. One prefers Dr. Fauci's assessment of the situation.

After Ms. Hickox embarrassed New Jersey officialdom, Governor Cuomo announced that he was climbing down a bit over the quarantine. Sam Levine at the Huffington Post wrote, "The new guidelines will allow health care workers who have had contact with patients infected with Ebola to stay at home for 21 days, rather than at a medical facility. The health of those individuals would be monitored throughout that period. Healthcare workers returning from West Africa who had not had contact with Ebola patients would be monitored at a less rigorous level, Cuomo said."

Sarah Ferris at TheHill.com stated, "Under current CDC protocols, medical workers who return from West Africa are not quarantined unless they have reported symptoms. Each person is advised to monitor their temperature daily and immediately report if they are feeling ill."

Three things here are important. First, one must presume that the CDC has some kind of expertise in dealing with disease, or the entire purpose of the organization is rendered ineffective. Second, that these protocols have been established based on the best possible knowledge of the contagious nature of Ebola. Third, any medical professional will follow these protocols. Each of these is beyond plausible

One of the great failings of democracy is instilling the belief that, because all are equal, all opinions are equal. In truth, the opinions of the experts are the only ones that matter in areas like this. Both governors, however, are playing politics rather than statecraft.

© Copyright 2014 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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