This morning on Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Elisabeth Hasselbeck suggested that government officials should close the borders in West African countries in an effort to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.
Hasselbeck was joined by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, who schooled her on why closing the borders of West African countries is a bad idea.
“Why are we still letting people into the country who could have possibly been exposed?” Hasselbeck asked. “Why not just shut down the flights and secure the borders? Many of you want to know… Why not, just as a precaution until we get things under control, seal off the border temporarily?”
Fauci said that Hasselbeck’s suggestion “didn’t make any sense.”
“If we completely isolate them — don’t let anything in, don’t let anything out — we know from experience with public health, that marginalizes them,” Fauci explained. “And you could have civil unrest, governments could fall. And then you wind up having spread the virus to other countries in West Africa, which would only compound the problem.”
Hasselbeck then pushed Fauci a bit further on the point. She proposed a “restricted” plan for flights.
“You have Americans there, you have business people there, people of dual citizenship who have to go back and forth,” he added. “It’s completely impractical. In fact, from a public health standpoint, not helpful to do that. And I think every public health official feels that way.”