I had a short but heated debate with a friend this morning. We were watching CNN and an interview with Kaci Hickox the nurse under mandatory quarantine in New Jersey.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/26/health/new-jersey-quarantined-nurse/
We were both in agreement that it was messed up that she is being held even though she claims to be non-symptomatic. However that is all we agreed on. Whereas I sympathize with her for being isolated and away from family and loved ones, I still think the United States is not going far enough and I commend New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York's governor Andrew Cuomo for their bold and apparently unpopular steps.
Let's face it, the federal government has guidelines for dealing with this deadly disease and from what THEY tell the public, this virus cannot be spread to others unless the infected person is experiencing symptoms. It supposedly cannot be spread through the air. This I get...to a point. How do we know when a person is supposedly sick enough to start showing symptoms? More importantly for me, what if my body (for example) takes longer to demonstrate symptoms? Is it possible to spread to a sick person NOT experiencing a fever? At what point do you know you have a fever? An apparent dumb question but if people can have walking pneumonia who is to say they could not walk around sick for a few days and not know it? Maybe it is more simple than that. I personally am not prepared to trust a person to on their own accord, monitor their body for symptoms. Meantime they could be spreading a fatal illness to someone who could pass it to a person who could give it to me. Not probably, but possibly.
Ever since this became an issue I have been for temporarily shutting travel down to the infected countries and to people who have recently visited them. I say shut down travel for three weeks then screen people from that point. There should be a ten day waiting period for anyone attempting to enter this country from any of the hot countries, then a mandatory five day quarantine once they land. I am in agreement that there should only be a few points of entry for those traveling from West Africa. At least until this is taken care of.
My friend seemed to care more about Ms. Hickox's freedom. The United States seems to care more about the loss of revenue to these countries. I am more concerned about my 86 year old mother and 79 year old aunt contracting the disease. Two people in Dallas caught it and even though they are recovering I don't need that type of drama. Plus their homes have been quarantined . If you can only get Ebola from close personal contact why the quarantine?
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