The governors of New York and New Jersey announced Friday afternoon that they were ordering all people entering the country through two area airports who had direct contact with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to be quarantined.The announcement comes one day after an American doctor, who had worked in Guinea and returned to New York City earlier in October, tested positive for Ebola and became the first New York patient of the deadly virus.“A voluntary Ebola quarantine is not enough,” said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York. “This is too serious a public health situation.”Outlined in a late afternoon news conference, the new protocols raised a host of questions about how, exactly, the screening process would work and who, exactly, it would target. The two airports in question are Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.The rapid escalation of screening measures came as a surprise after a day in which public officials had gone to great lengths to ease public anxiety.It was also taken without consulting the New York City health department, according to a senior city official.
Here's a problem with the plan:
! RT @Giambusso: Curious where @GovChristie & @NYGovCuomo derive the authority to quarantine out-of-state residents? My guess is they don't
— Azi (@Azi) October 24, 2014
Both of these guys are so used to breaking the law and getting their own way on things, perhaps they think they can pull this off.
But just where do they get the authority to force a mandatory 21 day quarantine on people who they think may have had direct contact with Ebola patients?
I applaud them, and think other states should follow suit.
ReplyDeleteWith what legal authority?
DeleteOr do you just want to give these governors the power to detain anybody they think has had contact with someone with Ebola?
I wonder how effective this new ukase will be:
ReplyDelete"Sir, you have just come off a plane which stopped in Heathrow after leaving Monrovia."
"Yes, that is true."
"Do you have a fever or feel unwell?"
"No sir, the nurse right here just took my temperature and I did ten jumping jacks when I got off the plane."
"When you were in Liberia, were you in contact with anyone who had Ebola?"
"Well, no sir, I surely was not. I have never seen anyone in my life with a case of Ebola in all my time in Liberia."
"Oh, that's good. Welcome to the United States."
Under his breath from the other side of border control "Thank God these people are as stupid as I heard they were."
In effect, that's probably how they'll run it. This was Cuomo and Christie thumping their chests and playing tough. But in the end, I bet they can't back these words up.
DeletePt. Authority of NY/NJ has the power to do whatever it wants as long it's constitutionally legal at its own airports. If you'd bother to investigate, you'd see that NY area airports have all sorts of rules regarding such things that are unique to themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe PA has the authority to detain American citizens for 21 days?
DeletePlease inform me where in the rules of the airports that power exists.
Hmm, I too think it's a fine idea. What about those who might be coming into LaGuardia having changed planes in, say, Canada, on their way back from Liberia?
ReplyDeleteMaybe that just never occurred to these two delightful governors.
I find it hard to believe they'll be able to pull this off. Hell,these two clowns can;'t get the PATH to work. But we'll see.
DeleteCuomo and Christie should be co running mates for the presidency. That way we might have the opportunity to find a reasonable candidate to oppose them.
DeleteUpdate at Times tonight:
Delete"The new protocols at the airports, outlined by the governors in an afternoon news conference, raised a host of questions, including how the screening process would work and whom it would target. The two airports in question are Kennedy International and Newark.
Officials from New York and New Jersey said they were still working out many details, including where people would be quarantined, how the quarantine would be enforced and how they would handle travelers who do not live in either of those states."
In short, Christie and Cuomo do not have any idea how they will do this - they were jut talking smack today.