What is the rationale for a “social distancing” policy?
Americans have a right to be concerned when the leadership enacts a “social distancing” policy, then requires Americans traveling abroad to return home within forty-eight hours.
The administration did not think through the calamity at the airports when thousands of Americans hit Hartsfield-Jackson, Dulles, Regan, Midway, and LAX Airports from abroad at the same time to comply with both directives of the leadership.
Under this travel band scenario, Americans abroad who otherwise may have been safe from the coronavirus are in a situation where they are within the personal air space of other Americans. Potentially, this impromptu meeting at the airports could fuel new waves of coronavirus outbreaks.
These travelers, but far this proclamation of the administration, would not have this risk of catching the coronavirus. More planning is necessary before the future roll-out of policy initiatives during the pandemic.
Harold Michael Harvey is the author of Freaknik Lawyer: A Memoir on the Craft of Resistance. He is a Past President of the Gate City Bar Association. He is the recipient of Gate City’s R. E. Thomas Civil Rights Award, which he received for his pro bono representation of Black college students arrested during Freaknik celebrations in the mid to late 1990s. An avid public speaker, contact him at hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com.
