Posted on 10/31/2014 1:50:41 PM PDT by Kaslin
That is the legal and medical question of the hour.
Should the good people coming back to the USA after helping fight Ebola in West Africa be forced to undergo a 21-day quarantine?
The defense department obviously thinks so.
It has announced that all U.S. military personnel returning from West Africa will be required to undergo "controlled monitoring" for 21 days to make sure they aren't carrying the deadly virus.
The men and women serving in the military is a separate issue. They didn't choose to go to the Ebola hot zone.
They were ordered to go, and when they return stateside they'll be ordered to undergo what is essentially a quarantine. It's called the military.
But the doctors, nurses and other health workers who volunteered to go to West Africa are another matter.
So far, depending on what state they live in and what their state health officials require, they may or may not be forced to comply with a 21-day quarantine when they return.
The legalities of mandatory quarantines for civilians are vague and still must be sorted out.
Kaci Hickox, the nurse who was forced by the state of New Jersey to stay in a tent while being tested for Ebola, looks like she's willing to become a test case.
She's threatened to sue Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. And now she's back at her home in Maine and refusing to abide by health officials there to comply with a "voluntary" quarantine.
Saying she is in perfect health and showing no symptoms of Ebola, Hickox insists she's not a risk to the public. She told NBC's "Today" show she believed that the quarantine policy was "not scientifically nor constitutionally just."
The quarantine question shouldn't have to become a constitutional issue. And there's no reason for state or federal governments to be put in the position of having to force an American citizen to undergo a quarantine.
The solution is simple. Before anyone goes to West Africa, they should fill out and sign an application form.
If they are unwilling to submit to a 21-day quarantine when they come back, they should be told by their employers, their relief agency or their church group that they cannot go.
Period. It's nothing new or strange for us to have rules like quarantines that protect the public from infectious diseases.
For example, I have type O negative blood, the kind everyone wants.
But I'm not permitted to donate blood, which I'd like to do, simply because I was in Europe in the 1980s when mad cow disease was a problem there.
That's all it takes to be disqualified. When you apply to give blood, if you answer "yes" to the question "Were you in Europe for more than six weeks in the '80s" you can never donate a drop of blood in the United States.
Some health experts have argued that a strict quarantine requirement would hurt the war against Ebola because it would dissuade many volunteers from going to West Africa.
That's no doubt true. But any health worker who's not willing to undergo a quarantine isn't a real hero and isn't looking at the big picture.
If they're willing to do good works in Africa, and God bless them for that, they should be willing to do it the right way.
And that means paying the full cost of doing good overseas by ensuring the safety of their families, friends and neighbors back home.
America is an incredibly generous country. It has millions of goodhearted heroes who would volunteer to help the sick and dying in West Africa.
But they can do good without endangering the rest of us.
I do not for the life of me understand this even being debated.
The discussion is about a quarantine, not killing people off, or shipping them to Siberia for a year. Good grief, so you have to spend 3 weeks in your home, watching tv, playing cards, playing computer games. Heck, do some knitting, clean your house, whatever. Its not like its the end of the world, but sure would be if the disease spreads!
It’s because of that spoiled, self centered nurse in Maine.
The one who seems to have lost even the slightest inclination to sacrifice a little bit of her own comfort.
In other words, the last profession on earth she should have chosen is nursing.
who knew you could tell authority to feck off and NOT wind up with the jackboot on your neck. This chick is amazingly fast to get tough and uncompromising and...nothing. How ‘bout that...
It’s because of that spoiled, self centered nurse in Maine.
The one who seems to have lost even the slightest inclination to sacrifice a little bit of her own comfort.
In other words, the last profession on earth she should have chosen is nursing.
Staci Kickox is an attention whore.
She is not infected.
The governor of Maine is an ass for helping her become a cause celeb.
This quarantine or no quarantine argument sure took the pressure off obama to stop all flights from west Africa.
Why?
How many times does she need to be quarantined to make everyone happy?
Just in case.Probably not necessary (assuming I feel well) but you never know.
How about she accept quarantine as a necessary process in dealing with ebola?
How about she stop making all this noise?
Politicizing a matter of public health necessarily gets in the way of properly dealing with it.
Let’s draft anyone that goes into west Africa into armed forces for 3 weeks.
Passports and border check databases need to be checked carefully to determine whether someone flew from West Africa to another part of the world, waited a few days or even weeks, and then flew on a brand new ticket to the U.S. from another destination.
Good god when I had cancer I had to wait five years..going test ever few month to be called cancer free. .. that was five years of time money and hassle. . An only me at rise.
Cancer is not contagious .I was not risk to other.....but years is the set test peroid protocol.
but ebola is potentially is...
and that test for PROOF if you have or not have is simple...wait 21 days after last exposure.
Why is that so hard to understand...
Her 21 day window ends on Nov 10th... Funny she declare herself ebola free from day ONE and we have to accept...
but if her insurance company declared her ebola free so no need to test and she disputed it and said she wanted testing...
How many would side with the insurance company and say shes on her own to pay for all that...
If she need to be tested for 21 days for her sake.. if she need to be monitored for 21 days for her befit...prudence tells you she then should be quarantined for 21 days for the public safety...
Just find one person infected by her then hold her for attempted manslaughter.
Thought she already did 21 and now Maine wanted another 21?
And she’s still an attention whore...
Two things about Kaci Hickox & others in her circumstance: Contagion & consequences
The CDC says a person must exhibit symptoms prior to being contagious. Just when does contagion start? Is it the moment your temp. spikes above 100.3, or is it just minutes before or after, or is it hours before or after? I doubt anyone knows for sure.
Furthermore, people are different, their bodies react differently to sickness/disease. Perhaps a strong person might initially be contagious without showing symptoms. (I personally have not vomited in 25+ years - I just don’t vomit - though I have been plenty sick several times during that period - appendicitis, pneumonia, flu, stomach ailments, etc.)
So, if Kaci goes to the mall, the bank, a restaurant, only to return home & find out she has a fever, who has been exposed & how are they identified to be monitored? There is no way to know.
What becomes of Kaci should she become sick, infecting friends, relatives & strangers, or simply forcing these people into quarantine, risking their lives & livelihood? Who would be her friend after that, especially after she has assured them she is disease free?
It seems to me that a 3 week stay at home is a far cheaper price to pay than the sure loathing she is likely to receive from those she cares for most if she is wrong. How will she feel if she kills a close relative, her boyfriend, a child, or others? If it is not negligent homicide/injury, it comes awfully close. Could she be sued for the cost of care and/or loss of life/livelihood?
The choice is simple to me: Take a 3 week stay-cation at home alone, or risk everything I hold dear. No contest.
She is a foolish, selfish woman who could easily become the most hated person in America.
With a 70% mortality rate, God forbid what would happen if it gets a foothold in America.
Who from Hell is advising this woman?
We need to know this because if Kaci infects others, this likely liberal “civil rights” lawyer is just as guilty as her.
I’d like to know so I never ask them for advice on ANYTHING.
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