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0 pointssradman5y ago0 comments

They also carefully managed the quarantine of the first set of returning travellers. They were sent home with a kit that included a thermometer and a set of surgical masks to use and public health officials contacted them daily via SMS and/or voice.

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closeparen5y ago

Assuming they could have their own bathroom in a sequestered area of the home. Otherwise required to stay in a hotel room.

timr5y ago

Yes, they are strict about their quarantine. It's much easier to do that when you don't have to quarantine millions of people.

Consider that we know that the virus was spreading in the US in January (via Europe), and there's phylogenetic and blood-screening evidence that it was here as early as late 2019. Even the strictest quarantine wouldn't have helped much at that point.

m_mueller5y ago

You would not have to quarantine millions if governments had acted decisively like Taiwan. I think Taiwan shows the endgame, how to eradicate. For an idea in how to deal with mass community spread, listen to Michael Mina.

timr5y ago

Taiwan has not eradicated the virus. Their quarantine systems are good, but not perfect:

https://thediplomat.com/2021/01/taiwan-tightens-pandemic-mea...

While they have certainly come closer than most places, the downside of this approach is that it comes at a debilitating economic cost (edit: for most countries...Taiwan specifically may be able to get away with it for a while because they're a manufacturing hub), and literally any minor slip up can lead to the virus spreading like wildfire through the population.

Again, considering the vast differences in scale and complexity here, it's pushing the bounds of credulity to claim that the United States could do something similar. Even a "science-following" state like New York can't conduct a quarantine of remotely similar strictness.

Pretty much the only equivalent thing the US might have done would be to stop all immigration in January. Neither political party would have supported such a thing.

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closeparen5y ago

Assuming they could have their own bathroom in a sequestered area of the home. Otherwise required to stay in a hotel room.

timr5y ago

Yes, they are strict about their quarantine. It's much easier to do that when you don't have to quarantine millions of people.

m_mueller5y ago

timr5y ago

Taiwan has not eradicated the virus. Their quarantine systems are good, but not perfect:

https://thediplomat.com/2021/01/taiwan-tightens-pandemic-mea...

Pretty much the only equivalent thing the US might have done would be to stop all immigration in January. Neither political party would have supported such a thing.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse