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CDC Chief: Why I don't support a travel ban
Where the CDC Chief proves, ones and for all, that A) he is a political appointment and B) you can't fix stupid.The first case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States has caused some to call on the United States to ban travel for anyone from the countries in West Africa facing the worst of the Ebola epidemic. That response is understandable. It’s only human to want to protect ourselves and our families. We want to defend ourselves, so isn’t the fastest, easiest solution to put up a wall around the problem? No to put a wall around our borders to help keep ourselves and our families safer. A travel ban is not the right answer. It’s simply not feasible to build a wall – virtual or real – around a community, city, or country. Especially when there is political reasons to have a wide-open southern border for the importation of undocumented Democrats and ISIS killers. When a wildfire breaks out we don't fence it off. We go in to extinguish it before one of the random sparks sets off another outbreak somewhere else. Yes we do fence it off - it's called a FIREBREAK and it is a very effective tool for preventing the fire from spreading while you either try to put it out or, if the fire is too large, wait for it to burn itself out. Stopping planes from flying from West Africa would severely limit the ability of Americans to return to the United States or of people with dual citizenship to get home, wherever that may be. No you stop plans from flying from West Africa to *HERE*. And those people who get caught might need to have a 21-day isolation period beforehand. Tough, but life isn't fair. In addition to not stopping the spread of Ebola, isolating countries will make it harder to respond to Ebola, creating an even greater humanitarian and health care emergency. Nobody's talking about preventing flights in to those countries. People will move between countries, even when governments restrict travel and trade. And that kind of travel becomes almost impossible to track. Especially when we so dearly need an unprotected southern border so undocumented democrats can come in. Isolating communities also increases people’s distrust of government, making them less likely to cooperate to help stop the spread of Ebola. Gee... refusing to do your primary function - that is to protect your citizens - has that effect as well. Isolating communities and regions within countries will also backfire. Restricting travel or trade to and from a community makes the disease spread more rapidly in the isolated area, eventually putting the rest of the country at even greater risk. To provide relief to West Africa, borders must remain open and commercial flights must continue. I suggest you go visit each Ebola patient - without any protection whatsoever. Be sure to shake their hand and give them a big fat kiss on the lips. Because to use any sort of protection would be wrong. What works is focusing on and isolating the sick and those in direct contact with them as they are at highest risk of infection. This strategy worked with SARS and it worked during the H1N1 flu pandemic. Casting too wide a net, such as invoking travel bans, would only provide an illusion of security and would lead to prejudice and stigma around those in West Africa. I had H1N1 - Just seemed like a rough case of the flu and I didn't know I had it until my Doctor told me afterwards. Still I would not want Ebola. Americans can be reassured we are taking measures to protect citizens here. A lie. Today, all outbound passengers from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are screened for Ebola symptoms before they board an airplane. After all it worked so well for Patient Zero... Staff from CDC and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customers & Border Protection will begin new layers of entry screening, Travelers from those countries will be escorted to an area of the airport set aside for screening. There they will be observed for signs of illness, asked a series of health and exposure questions, and given information on Ebola and information on monitoring themselves for symptoms for 21 days. And of course they will... NOT! Their temperature will be checked, and if there’s any concern about their health, they’ll be referred to the local public health authority for further evaluation or monitoring. At least the local public health authority might be effective. Unless they are overrun by the likes of the good chief here. Until Ebola is controlled in West Africa, we cannot get the risk to zero here in the United States. But we can probably get pretty close. It's called a multi-layered defense - you go fight it there while, at the same time, erect measures to prevent it from entering here - by protecting the border (including the southern one). And be sure not to wear any protective clothing while visiting any Ebola patients - at least until they are over it. Posted by: CrazyFool 2014-10-10 |
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