Last Friday, Oct. 17, the governors of New York, New Jersey and Illinois declared a mandatory 21-day quarantine for anyone who came back to the United States after being in any of the West African countries facing the Ebola epidemic. Sunday night, Governor Chris Christie loosened the quarantine in New Jersey so that rather than enduring 21 days in hospital quarantines, “at risk” patients could stay at home and be compensated for the work that they missed. 

But, even with the more relaxed restrictions, he stood by the mandatory policy. This is the newest and most exaggerated example of how people in the United States are overreacting to the Ebola epidemic. 

Unforunately, this overreaction could have many negative consequences.

The mandatory quarantine is dramatizing the medical facts behind how Ebola is contracted and spreads. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ebola is spread when blood or body fluids from the infected person come in direct contact through broken skin or mucous membranes of a non-infected person. It is nearly impossible to get Ebola from, say, standing next to an infected person on the subway, even if they cough on you. Additionally, if a person with Ebola is not showing any symptoms of the virus, they are not contagious. But, despite these facts, the mandatory quarantine persists.

The issues of the mandatory quarantine were publicized in the United States when Kaci Hickox, a nurse treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone through Doctors Without Borders, was quarantined last Friday when she arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport. 

On Saturday, Hickox published an article in the Dallas Morning News about her experience with the quarantine. She was treated almost as if she was a criminal and kept in the quarantine even though she did not have a fever and tested negative for Ebola.  That is worth reiterating: Hickox was completely Ebola-free but was still kept from seeing her family and friends due to pure paranoia. In the article, Hickox said, “this is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me.” On Monday morning, according to the New York Times, Governor Christie said that Hickox could go home if the CDC approved. 

From the perspective of a governor, a mandatory quarantine may seem like a good idea. It eliminates any potential risk of Ebola coming into contact with the general population. And it is true: If you take every person who is coming to the United States from West Africa and do not allow them to have any human contact except with medical professionals dressed from head to toe in protective gear there is absolutely no chance anyone else in the country will contract Ebola. This is especially true when the quarantined person doesn’t have Ebola in the first place, which is absolutely what is going to be the case for many of those quarantined. 

The mandatory quarantine is absolutely inane. Beyond its isolation of people who may not necessarily be infected with Ebola, it is treating those who are brave and willing to go to West Africa to help fight the epidemic with a disrespect that nobody deserves. The people who go to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone should be treated like the heroes that they are. The quarantine also discourages people from going to West Africa to help fight the epidemic. Why would one go and help when they would come back to a mandatory 21-day quarantine and disrespect from the government and health officials? 

Additionally, those who are going to West Africa and working with Ebola patients know the symptoms of the disease better than anybody else. 

If they were symptomatic, they would be aware to seek help and take the proper measures to not spread the disease. Additionally, the CDC has specific protocol to follow for those who aren’t health care workers and are traveling from West Africa to the U.S. that doesn’t include a mandatory quarentine. Because this disease is not spread by just simply sharing air with people who are infected, it would be easy for a medical professional to ascertain quickly whether they may be carrying Ebola without it spreading to anyone else.

The mandatory quarantine is a terrible concept that is a complete waste of time, effort and money. It discourages health volunteers from traveling to West Africa where patients need the most help. 

Ebola is terrifying and a huge threat in West Africa, but in developed countries that have highly developed healthcare and information systems there is no major risk of an epidemic. It is time that the U.S. shifted their efforts away from quarantining uninfected people to helping those who actually need it.