People who are infected with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus — as well as other contagious or communicable diseases which are determined to be a danger to the public in general — could legally be removed or placed in detention centers by the government of the state of New York, as proposed by a new bill which members of the New York State Senate are considering that “relates to the removal of cases, contacts and carriers of communicable diseases who are potentially dangerous to the public health” during an official public health emergency which has been declared by the governor.
Dangerous Proposal to Place Disease Carriers in Detention Centers: New York State Senate Bill
The bill was introduced by a Democratic member of the New York State Senate Assembly named Noah Nicholas Perry, who currently represents District 58 in Brooklyn — which is comprised of the neighborhood of East Flatbush as well as portions of Canarsie and Brownsville — as “an act to amend the public health law, in relation to the removal of cases, contacts and carriers of communicable diseases who are potentially dangerous to the public health” by adding a new section to the public health law of the state of New York to be known as 2120-A.
“Upon determining by clear and convincing evidence that the health of others is or may be endangered by a case, contact or carrier, or suspected case, contact or carrier of a contagious disease that, in the opinion of the governor, after consultation with the commissioner, may pose an imminent and significant threat to the public health resulting in severe morbidity or high mortality, the governor or his or her delegee, including, but not limited to the commissioner or the heads of local health departments, may order the removal and/or detention of such a person or of a group of such persons by issuing a single order, identifying such persons either by name or by a reasonably specific description of the individuals or group being detained”, according to the text from New York State Senate Assembly Bill A416. “Such person or group of persons shall be detained in a medical facility or other appropriate facility or premises designated by the governor or his or her delegee and complying with subdivision five of this section.”
A person who has been confirmed to be infected with a contagious or communicable disease during a public health emergency — such as a pandemic or epidemic as two examples — may be detained for up to three business days “in a manner that is consistent with recognized isolation and infection control principles in order to minimize the likelihood of transmission of infection to such person and to others.” That person may be afforded an opportunity to be heard upon request.
A Look at the Latest Statistics
The latest statistics are that at least 1,818,849 people — or slightly greater than 2.20 percent — have died of the minimum of 82,579,768 confirmed cases worldwide, according to this situation dashboard from the World Health Organization pertaining to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus…
…and at the same time, at least 1,838,440 people — or slightly less than 2.17 percent — have died of the minimum of 84,761,360 confirmed cases worldwide, according to this situation dashboard from Johns Hopkins University & Medicine pertaining to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.
At the time this article was written, at least 346,925 people — or slightly less than 1.73 percent — have died of the minimum of 20,061,818 confirmed cases in the United States, according to this situation dashboard from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pertaining to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus — and with an estimated population of 331,002,651 people, that means that greater than 0.10 percent of the population of the United States have died with it.
The population of the world is currently at almost 7.8 billion people. Using the higher statistics from Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, that means that slightly less than 1.09 percent of the population have confirmed cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus, with slightly greater than 0.02 percent of the population having died with it.
Summary
I do not even know where to begin with such a law if it is passed.
First, could this law potentially violate the privacy and rights of the infected person under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 — which is more popularly known as HIPAA?
Second, what exactly does the word removed mean in the bill? Will the infected person be removed from from his or her family, house, workplace, etcetera?
Third, what happens to a person who travels to anywhere in the state of New York and contracts the disease there? Does that mean that there is no recourse for the person to leave until the government determines otherwise?
Fourth, what happens if a person has been misdiagnosed with a contagious or communicable disease but has been detained or removed? Does that person get compensation or an apology? Does he or she have the right to sue the state of New York?
Fifth, what about other diseases which had been designated with pandemic or epidemic status — such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which is more popularly known as AIDS? Will people who have these diseases be “removed” or detained against their will?
Finally, do the aforementioned statistics warrant such a draconian law? Would the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic qualify? If passed into law, would the proposal actually help to significantly reduce the number of cases and deaths which are attributed to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus?
I think that this law far overreaches its intended goal; will potentially cause more problems than it will solve; infringes upon the rights of people who are detained; fosters and promotes discrimination; diminishes the right to privacy of individuals in general; and is dangerous to the loss of freedom of people in general.
This bill should not be passed into law, in my opinion.
All photographs ©2007, ©2015, ©2017, and ©2020 by Brian Cohen.
