Mandatory healthcare worker quarantines in three states and stricter monitoring in a fourth (Florida) following the Ebola diagnosis of an N.Y.C. doctor is sparking criticism, according to an article on the Modern Healthcare website.
Doctors Without Borders, the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology disagree with the states' actions.
The New York and New Jersey governors announced Friday that their states would require mandatory quarantines of all individuals returning from Guinea, Sierra Leone or Liberia who had medically treated or come into direct contact with individuals with Ebola. The governor of Illinois followed suit.
“Coercive measures like mandatory quarantine of people exhibiting no symptoms of Ebola and when not medically necessary raise serious constitutional concerns about the state abusing its powers,” said Udi Offer, executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of the ACLU,
The mandatory quarantine order could frighten the public and deter sick individuals from seeking treatment out of fear of quarantine, Offer said.
The federal government has been pressuring New York and New Jersey to overturn their quarantine orders. Federal officials said total quarantines for healthcare workers are unnecessary and ineffective.
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