6 ms·

Regardless, in this particular case it seems rather apparent that Duncan lied. If she was bleeding from the mouth and he was aware of it, in Liberia during an

by Crito 12y ago

Regardless, in this particular case it seems rather apparent that Duncan lied. If she was bleeding from the mouth and he was aware of it, in Liberia during an Ebola outbreak, then there at the very least he should have answered that "history of contact with ebola" question with a strong "maybe". I am suspicious of the family being in denial, but I don't think that it is impossible. However for Duncan to also be in denial is far less probable. It also should be noted that "I thought she had cholera/malaria" and "I thought she was having complications with her pregnancy" are two rather distinct claims. Had he said "I don't think that I had contact with ebola, but I did interact with somebody who seemed to have cholera recently..." then I would be far less critical.

pdabbadabba 12y ago
Look, I don't say it was A-OK that Duncan checked "no" in the form. (Which, by the way, asks the question in several different forms, to try to capture cases where people were exposed to something, but don't know what to.) But I do wonder why people are so quick to demonize. He was not a highly educated person, he didn't know the woman he was helping and only saw her briefly, and was (or would have been, had he known) terrified of the consequences of checking "yes" on that box, both in terms of what the authorities would do down the line (quite possibly stick him in a decrepit hospital full of people dying of ebola) and what that would mean coming to grips with. I'm also surprised that people so uncritically accept that his coming here was so terrible in any case. I would bet money that his dying in Dallas means he has infected far fewer people than if he had stayed in Liberia. It certainly serves our purposes to convince people that people with ebola should stay put but I've never heard it explained why, objectively, that is actually the case.
mrgriscom 12y ago
He likely did lie, but can you blame him? If you were faced with a question where answering truthfully meant you'd be trapped in a hellhole where what little healthcare infrastructure there was had already completely fallen apart, and lying meant access to world-class care... which would you pick?

by Crito 12y ago

pdabbadabba 12y ago

Look, I don't say it was A-OK that Duncan checked "no" in the form. (Which, by the way, asks the question in several different forms, to try to capture cases where people were exposed to something, but don't know what to.) But I do wonder why people are so quick to demonize. He was not a highly educated person, he didn't know the woman he was helping and only saw her briefly, and was (or would have been, had he known) terrified of the consequences of checking "yes" on that box, both in terms of what the authorities would do down the line (quite possibly stick him in a decrepit hospital full of people dying of ebola) and what that would mean coming to grips with. I'm also surprised that people so uncritically accept that his coming here was so terrible in any case. I would bet money that his dying in Dallas means he has infected far fewer people than if he had stayed in Liberia. It certainly serves our purposes to convince people that people with ebola should stay put but I've never heard it explained why, objectively, that is actually the case.

mrgriscom 12y ago

He likely did lie, but can you blame him? If you were faced with a question where answering truthfully meant you'd be trapped in a hellhole where what little healthcare infrastructure there was had already completely fallen apart, and lying meant access to world-class care... which would you pick?