Sunday, February 2, 2020

re: quarantine and the coronavirus

i am not opposed to quarantine, in principle, and think anybody arguing that it's racist to quarantine people are making specious arguments. if a white person comes back from china, is it racist to quarantine them, too? 

but, if you're going to quarantine somebody in 2020, you'd better make sure you're backed up by the science, and, with this virus, the science just doesn't support that. they're getting hit in china, but china is still a very poor place, overall, and it's broadly treatable, in the context of first world science.

i would support a quarantine if the science warranted it; i think that would be an acceptable rights restriction. but, the science to make that call isn't there, and appeals to avoid taking chances are not warranted.