I like to think that I live in a state that is a bastion against right wing stupidity, but that I fear goes just so far. The State director of Public Health has climbed on the ebola bandwagon.
State orders quarantine for workers who had contact with Ebola
California's top health officer has ordered a 21-day home quarantine for all returning medical workers or travelers who have had contact with a confirmed case of Ebola in West Africa, and invoked the possibility of imprisonment and fines if the restrictions are disobeyed.
The order, issued Wednesday by California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ron Chapman, is the latest in a series of measures issued by state governments in response to widespread — and some say unwarranted — public fear.
On Wednesday, California health officials insisted that even though the order provides for unspecified penalties, the measure was not a rigid, mandatory quarantine.
Instead, county health agencies will assess the threat to public health posed by each individual and "tailor an appropriate level of quarantine as needed," state officials said in a press statement. The order was described as a "flexible, case-by-case approach."
"Not everyone who has been to an Ebola-affected area would be considered high risk," Chapman said. "This order will allow local health officers to determine, for those coming into California, who is most at risk for developing this disease, and to contain any potential spread of infectious disease by responding to those risks appropriately."
The politics of this is being handled a bit differently from Christie's attention addict approach. Jerry Brown seems to want to avoid taking a visible stand on the matter. The Director of Public Health is accountable to him so it is unlikely that this order was issued without his approval. The ultimate responsibility is being pushed down to the county level. It is giving county officials the authority to take action.
There are a number of California health care workers who are volunteering in Africa, so it is certain that they will be returning and that this will become an issue.
This all is pretty clearly going to end up in the courts where people who do not test positive for ebola are going to be standing up for their civil rights. It looks probable that the State of Maine will seek a court order to confine Kaci Hickox today. This is of course a typical situation in American politics. Elected politicians pander to public hysteria and dump the problem in the lap of the courts.