Quarantines and Travel Bans May Not Stop Coronavirus Now
The World Health Organization is right to recognize that too-restrictive measures may backfire.
It’s already too late for travel bans.
Photographer: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty ImagesCoronavirus is spreading at an accelerating rate, but inappropriate quarantines and travel bans could cause more havoc than the disease itself. The World Health Organization has a duty to protect human health, but also an obligation to protect the world’s citizens from the human rights violations or unnecessary economic hardship that panic could cause. So far, they’re doing a good job of striking this tricky balance.
The WHO has advised against the far-reaching travel bans that some conservative U.S. lawmakers want to impose on China, where the outbreak started. Last week’s announcement that the U.S. will quarantine 195 people evacuated from Wuhan, China, makes sense as long as the people are held in a safe, comfortable environment.