Fellow New Yorkers. Im asking you to please write to Governor Cuomo, imploring him to withdraw the mandatory quarantine requirement. The requirement will not make the US any safer, only serving to elicit stigma against those who ought to be viewed as heroes. It will encourage mistrust in authorities, incentivizing health care workers to withhold the truth about their level of contact or any suspicious symptoms. Furthermore, the new protocol discourages critically needed humanitarian aid workers from volunteering, thereby allowing the epidemic to rage on unchecked. The only way to truly reduce the threat of #Ebola for Americans is by taking control of it here in West Africa. Please, if you disagree, go ahead and air your concerns here. Id be happy to answer any of your questions. Dear Governor Cuomo: As a resident of New York and a U.S. citizen committed to sound global and domestic public health, I implore you to withdraw the mandatory quarantine requirement for all people entering the United States through Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport who have had direct contact with individuals with Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. This aspect of the procedural plan being put into place to minimize the risk outbreaks of EVD in the New York metropolitan area is not supported by scientific evidence and will potentially have a profound effect on efforts to recruit U.S.-based health care professionals who are desperately needed to help combat the burgeoning EVD epidemic in West Africa. Based on all available scientific evidence pertaining to the transmission of EVD, along with a lack of epidemiological data indicating that self-monitoring for symptoms is inferior to quarantines with respect to preventing transmission of EVD, I would urge New Jersey and New York to instead require that all health care workers returning to the U.S. through Port Authority international airports continue vigilant self-monitoring for signs and symptoms of EVD and that they remain in close proximity to a hospital with isolation facilities. Port Authority-mandated quarantines for all arriving passengers who have had direct contact with individuals with EVD may have consequences that are the antithesis of effective public health. Should the New York metropolitan area be the destination of individuals who have contact with people with EVD in West Africa, but they instead travel through multiple hubs (thereby significantly extending their transit time) or deny potential exposure to circumvent these mandatory entry requirements, we will have effectively delayed two of the most important components of breaking EVD transmission chains: prompt diagnosis and isolation of those with bona fide symptoms and clear instructions for those with possible exposure to Ebola. Governor Christie, if we are to effectively prevent additional isolated cases of EVD disease—and with them, public fear and panic—in the New York metropolitan area and the spread of the disease in other parts of the world, the only evidence-based solution is to dedicate the resources required to break chains of transmission in countries where the disease is prevalent. U.S.-based health care workers are critical to this response, through volunteer and paid opportunities, and I fear that mandatory quarantines will greatly hinder current efforts to recruit skilled and experienced personnel. In no uncertain terms, groups such as Médecins Sans Frontières, Partners in Health, and the United Nations have stressed that we desperately need more qualified health care providers in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to save the lives of those who have been infected, to prevent the ongoing spread of the disease in those countries, and to stem the risk of outbreaks in all other nations. I urge you to end the mandatory quarantine policy and instead establish a standard protocol, to be developed by the Port Authority in close collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the State of New Jersey Department of Health, the New York State Department of Health, and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, for self-monitoring and required proximity to a hospital with isolation facilities for all individuals who have had contact with individuals with EVD. Respectfully submitted,
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 22:47:38 +0000
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