an ebola reminder

[alloin]

[Inotdead]

This thread became quite boring I must say.

Well, Claeyt isn't around anymore, else this thread would have been 20+ pages by now.

[Darwoth]

i froms liberia, i not feelarng good. but i come to merica much feel good! teenager boy from internet say i can come to country and sleep on your couch! arf arf arf!

[Kaios]

Darwoth is like fox news, spreading fear and misinformation (or disinformation perhaps)

[kai]

My oldest child came home from school a few weeks ago and said the kids were all talking about it. he came home and said we are all safe as the airports will not allow people in from those countries in africa. i stated that the airports are not even screening for it currently and he was in shock. weeks later we are now screening for it. does this mean children are smarter than the government?

[Judaism]

No, why the would would they be ?

[Inotdead]

No, why the would would they be ?

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/out_of_th ... s_of_babes

[Mereni]

My oldest child came home from school a few weeks ago and said the kids were all talking about it. he came home and said we are all safe as the airports will not allow people in from those countries in africa. i stated that the airports are not even screening for it currently and he was in shock. weeks later we are now screening for it. does this mean children are smarter than the government?

No, it means that children, even older teens, often see the world in simple, black and white terms. Sure, it sounds like wisdom to shut down flights from such countries to this one, but people who are from here, who go over there, will want to come home. Some of them will be desperate to come home, so desperate they might even take a circuitous route to sneak in and lie about their travel history, something which is not difficult to do. But with a quarantine, on the other hand, they are still Here, and they know that if they do get sick, they'll get the best care, and so that is much more likely to work.

Also, governments have to balance risk against economy. Just how important is it that travel/communication lines remain open between this country and the dangerous one? Sometimes shutting down travel is the answer, but the people making the decision are human, and probably being screamed at by other humans who don't want to lose a profit. On the one hand, there's the risk of a horrible epidemic, but on the other hand, the disease might not be so dangerous after all. Is it worth losing votes to prevent something that might prevent itself? Politicians will ask themselves that question and decide in favor of their own best interests because that is how people are. What good losing your livelihood over a possible nothing?

And then of course, there's the aid we're sending there. Aid which we Need to keep sending to reduce the risk of the disease spreading further. Shutting down air travel is only going to stop that aid and make things worse in the long run.

Most kids aren't aware of things like that yet.

Also, you two seem to have your own definition of quarantine that you subscribe to. Here's the actual one:

A quarantine is used to separate and restrict the movement of persons; it is a 'state of enforced isolation'. This is often used in connection to disease and illness, such as those who may possibly have been exposed to a communicable disease.

That can mean any number of things. Now, I don't have the time nor do I care to run through the whole thread to find out what exactly both you and Darwoth seem to be arguing for

I'm starting to think you not only have no clue what I've been saying, but you also don't really know what you are saying either. That definition of quarantine is exactly the one I'm using. Also, you don't have to search the thread, just read the post of mine that you JUST QUOTED. It's a very simple concept: 21 day quarantine for anyone flying out of that area to here. They arrive here, they go into quarantine for 21 days until the virus either shows up in their blood or it doesn't. And then they're free to go, or not, as the case may be. There are only about 150 people coming here from the affected region each day. That's not a huge number, really. It is certainly manageable as that would be about 3150 at any given time.

[Spazzmaticus]

Darwoth is like fox news, spreading fear and misinformation (or disinformation perhaps)

Keep calm, report, ignore and carry on.

[Rifmaster]

You know what's even more deadly than ebola?
The risk of suicide when an interesting thread starts becoming a huge wall of text just because you went to bed.
Dammit! I wish a was a giraffe and had to sleep 5 hours a day!

EDIT: Can girafes get ebola? They can't right?