Thought experiment; pre-emptive medical quarantine

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

So I've been doing a lot of international travelling lately, and I noticed a lot of airports have medical quarantine scanners... basically, they point an infrared thermometer at you, and if your temperature is high enough to indicate that you're contagiously ill, you're quarantined.

However, all putting this in airports does is quarantine individuals who travel by airplane. It does nothing to stop the spread of disease by people who travel by any other means. Why not put such thermometers on the doors of houses, locking people in until they are no longer contagious? (Presuming that they can be unlocked by medics in the event someone genuinely intends to go to the hospital for their illness, or that such locks would be ineffective if the house were on fire.)

[Bluelight-R006]

In houses? The sick person’s germs will travel and infect your possessions inside. Then you’ll get it and the whole house has to be cleaned.

Similarly in other buildings as well.

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

In houses? The sick person’s germs will travel and infect your possessions inside. Then you’ll get it and the whole house has to be cleaned.

Similarly in other buildings as well.

The balcony, presuming no access to stairways leading to street level, could constitute a "secure area" analogous to an airport.

If one does not have such a thing, so be it. Better a family is sick for a few days than that the disease spreads amongst everybody else.

[Bluelight-R006]

In houses? The sick person’s germs will travel and infect your possessions inside. Then you’ll get it and the whole house has to be cleaned.

Similarly in other buildings as well.

The balcony, presuming no access to stairways leading to street level, could constitute a "secure area" analogous to an airport.

If one does not have such a thing, so be it. Better a family is sick for a few days than that the disease spreads amongst everybody else.

And that family may have to go out of the house to get supplies? Won’t they spread it to everyone there?

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

The balcony, presuming no access to stairways leading to street level, could constitute a "secure area" analogous to an airport.

If one does not have such a thing, so be it. Better a family is sick for a few days than that the disease spreads amongst everybody else.

And that family may have to go out of the house to get supplies? Won’t they spread it to everyone there?

What kind of "supplies"? Why can't they be thrown in through a window?

[Bluelight-R006]

And that family may have to go out of the house to get supplies? Won’t they spread it to everyone there?

What kind of "supplies"? Why can't they be thrown in through a window?

Food, water, medicine. Why can’t they be thrown in through a window? Dude, not everyone lives on one or two-floor tall houses. For example, I live on the third floor of an apartment building, which has a tall first floor, so if you try throwing it up, it won’t work. There are some apartments here which reach as tall as sixty floors. Truly, you can’t throw supplies that high up.

Also, any interaction with anyone passing the supplies may result in the sickness spreading, so that’s a no-no.

[Free Arabian Nation]

Because that's stupid?

You can't put and maintain thermometers on every house in Country X, there will be people, a lot of people, who think it's a invasion of privacy and protest. I mean, imagine trying to manage every house in, let's say, Oman.

Let's say that every household has 4 people, Homelessness is gone, and everybody always goes home at least once a day. That's around 1.159 million households one would have to manage, including critical personnel that can't take a sick day. Those 1.159M also might not take a keen interest in having the government put them under house arrest because they had a bit of a cold.

Oh, speaking of which, diseases don't just spread from person to person. A cold virus can survive a week without a human host, potentially way after the person is not infected. Meaning that the Government would have to sterilize literally every object, every inch of surface area in and on the house, put pets into quarantine, uninfected family members, etc.

Also, there is no way a house would get fully quarantined. There are way too many openings in the average household. So, unless you do some bio-weapon levels of quarantine for every 2-4 times a year and adult gets a cold, it's pretty much a waste of time.

It just seems like a lot of effort and money wasted on preventing the cold to spread.

[Katganistan]

Another ridiculously authoritarian and needlessly restrictive measure. Catch a cold, be imprisoned.

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

What kind of "supplies"? Why can't they be thrown in through a window?

Food, water, medicine. Why can’t they be thrown in through a window? Dude, not everyone lives on one or two-floor tall houses. For example, I live on the third floor of an apartment building, which has a tall first floor, so if you try throwing it up, it won’t work. There are some apartments here which reach as tall as sixty floors. Truly, you can’t throw supplies that high up.

Also, any interaction with anyone passing the supplies may result in the sickness spreading, so that’s a no-no.

I'm pretty sure someone who can acquire the food, water, and medicine a sick family may need would have the means to get a set of ladders to get within throwing distance of the window of such a family. Or to deliver it by drone. Of course, there's also the option of the family going straight to the hospital so delivery of food, water, and medicine is just a matter of some nurse going down the hall.

Also, any air displaced into the outdoor air by a parcel flying in through the window would almost immediately be dispersed by the wind. The concentration of bacteria and viruses would almost immediately be made negligible.

[Bluelight-R006]

Because that's stupid?

You can't put and maintain thermometers on every house in Country X, there will be people, a lot of people, who think it's a invasion of privacy and protest. I mean, imagine trying to manage every house in, let's say, Oman.

Let's say that every household has 4 people, Homelessness is gone, and everybody always goes home at least once a day. That's around 1.159 million households one would have to manage, including critical personnel that can't take a sick day. Those 1.159M also might not take a keen interest in having the government put them under house arrest because they had a bit of a cold.

Oh, speaking of which, diseases don't just spread from person to person. A cold virus can survive a week without a human host, potentially way after the person is not infected. Meaning that the Government would have to sterilize literally every object, every inch of surface area in and on the house, put pets into quarantine, uninfected family members, etc.

It just seems like a lot of effort and money wasted on preventing the cold to spread.

Not to mention it wouldn’t work as well. What a waste of money. Observe the people going to the Doctors’ office. No doubt has the cold been healed and not been spread, most of the time.

Such inconvenience! Such invasion, all for nothing. Also, never have I heard that all nations had enough money to give every household thermometers.

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

Let's say that every household has 4 people, Homelessness is gone, and everybody always goes home at least once a day. That's around 1.159 million households one would have to manage, including critical personnel that can't take a sick day.

There shouldn't BE people so "critical" that they can't take a sick day. If measures like these are what it takes to make society change that, so be it.

Also, people wouldn't be managing those 1.159 million households; machines would, as mentioned in the OP.

I don't know what threshold airports use for how serious the contagion must be to quarantine people over it, but if we set a threshold; even a different one than airports used; we could stop pandemics before they even started.

[Bluelight-R006]

Food, water, medicine. Why can’t they be thrown in through a window? Dude, not everyone lives on one or two-floor tall houses. For example, I live on the third floor of an apartment building, which has a tall first floor, so if you try throwing it up, it won’t work. There are some apartments here which reach as tall as sixty floors. Truly, you can’t throw supplies that high up.

Also, any interaction with anyone passing the supplies may result in the sickness spreading, so that’s a no-no.

I'm pretty sure someone who can acquire the food, water, and medicine a sick family may need would have the means to get a set of ladders to get within throwing distance of the window of such a family. Or to deliver it by drone. Of course, there's also the option of the family going straight to the hospital so delivery of food, water, and medicine is just a matter of some nurse going down the hall.

Also, any air displaced into the outdoor air by a parcel flying in through the window would almost immediately be dispersed by the wind. The concentration of bacteria and viruses would almost immediately be made negligible.

Are you kidding me? People grab ladders to throw to someone some heavy supplies at the 60th floor of a building? How about drones? Not everyone has that nor will want to spend their money on that. So troublesome. Why can’t people just go to the doctor’s office and get healed? It’s working and has been for the last century.

Go to the hospital? People don’t have their own cars. My family doesn’t have a car, so if we want to get to the hospital, we have to take a taxi. And a taxi isn’t self-driven. Someone else is in the car. Bacteria can get to the person, you know. So it’s a lost cause.

[Free Arabian Nation]

Let's say that every household has 4 people, Homelessness is gone, and everybody always goes home at least once a day. That's around 1.159 million households one would have to manage, including critical personnel that can't take a sick day.

There shouldn't BE people so "critical" that they can't take a sick day. If measures like these are what it takes to make society change that, so be it.

Also, people wouldn't be managing those 1.159 million households; machines would, as mentioned in the OP.

OK, so the idea is still ridiculously expensive and invasive?

I don't know what threshold airports use for how serious the contagion must be to quarantine people over it, but if we set a threshold; even a different one than airports used; we could stop pandemics before they even started.

We could also, you know, promote healthy living, wash hands more often, etc.

You seem to not address everything else in my post that would make this a waste of time. Including the fact the countries where this might work the best are too poor for this and that diseases can still spread without showing symptoms until too late.

[Ohioan Territory]

Sounds like some Orwellian nonsense to me. If your society is adequately vaccinated, sanitized, and hygienic, there's no need to stop sick people from moving about freely.

[The Free Joy State]

Pointless and authoritarian.

Most viruses (i.e. the common cold) are mild, self-limiting and pass on their own for the average person -- without so much as a day off work. The economy couldn't stand the loss caused by insisting houses be sealed until every minor bug has passed.

Finally, most people are contagious for days before they show symptoms -- making this locking the stable door after the horse has bolted in a very real sense.

And what of the relatives/housemates of the sick person? Do they get locked in against their will or do they incur the unnecessary financial expense of being forced to stay in a hotel because their partner/roomie has a sniffle?

It's unworkable.

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

I'm pretty sure someone who can acquire the food, water, and medicine a sick family may need would have the means to get a set of ladders to get within throwing distance of the window of such a family. Or to deliver it by drone. Of course, there's also the option of the family going straight to the hospital so delivery of food, water, and medicine is just a matter of some nurse going down the hall.

Also, any air displaced into the outdoor air by a parcel flying in through the window would almost immediately be dispersed by the wind. The concentration of bacteria and viruses would almost immediately be made negligible.

Are you kidding me? People grab ladders to throw to someone some heavy supplies at the 60th floor of a building? How about drones? Not everyone has that nor will want to spend their money on that. So troublesome. Why can’t people just go to the doctor’s office and get healed? It’s working and has been for the last century.

Go to the hospital? People don’t have their own cars. My family doesn’t have a car, so if we want to get to the hospital, we have to take a taxi. And a taxi isn’t self-driven. Someone else is in the car. Bacteria can get to the person, you know. So it’s a lost cause.

Some taxi companies have a glass wall between the driver and everyone else. One could also wear a face mask for an extra layer of security.

Of course, there's also the option of having the health care system do the transportation. Not necessarily by ambulance, but by some other less-equipped (and presumably less expensive) vehicle expressly designed to transport the contagiously ill.

[United States of Americanas]

Is this a joke?

There’s people seriously discussing this lunacy so I guess I’ll give a serious answer.

1. The funding for this would be astronomical. Instead of funding this insane proposal how’s about funding a public service TV campaign encouraging people to stay home or go to a hospital on their own accord and when going to a store wipe their cart with the provided cleanser when they are finished shopping while also minimizing contact with others.

2. The backlash by citizens is likely to cause a civil war in <Country Name> that implements this. “You have a cold you are on house arrest for the next two weeks” is surely going to get some government heads killed.

3. Airport quarantines are not used against people with a cold the flu or other non life threatening illnesses. They are designed to stop the spread of dangerous infectious diseases. Colds and the flu are hardly dangerous unless you’re an infant or 90 years old.

4. No government workers will take the job Example Nelson gets hired by the <Country Name> government and is put on thermometer monitoring duty. Within three days Nelson smashes his computer to the floor and screams “Fuck this job, fuck this Orwellian shit, I’m emigrating, suck it guys! I quit!” He then moves out of the country.

5. What’s that data center? Government: That’s the thermometer data center and house arrest control center. People: AND WE STILL DEAL WITH SHIT SLOW INTERNET WHILE YOU GUYS GET TO LOCK US UP FOR SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS HAVING A COLD?!?

Cue civil war, cue dissolution of the government by brute force and cue the end of <Country Name>’s leadership.

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

Is this a joke?

There’s people seriously discussing this lunacy so I guess I’ll give a serious answer.

1. The funding for this would be astronomical. Instead of funding this insane proposal how’s about funding a public service TV campaign encouraging people to stay home or go to a hospital on their own accord and when going to a store wipe their cart with the provided cleanser when they are finished shopping while also minimizing contact with others.

2. The backlash by citizens is likely to cause a civil war in <Country Name> that implements this. “You have a cold you are on house arrest for the next two weeks” is surely going to get some government heads killed.

3. Airport quarantines are not used against people with a cold the flu or other non life threatening illnesses. They are designed to stop the spread of dangerous infectious diseases. Colds and the flu are hardly dangerous unless you’re an infant or 90 years old.

4. No government workers will take the job Example Nelson gets hired by the <Country Name> government and is put on thermometer monitoring duty. Within three days Nelson smashes his computer to the floor and screams “Fuck this job, fuck this Orwellian shit, I’m emigrating, suck it guys! I quit!” He then moves out of the country.

5. What’s that data center? Government: That’s the thermometer data center and house arrest control center. People: AND WE STILL DEAL WITH SHIT SLOW INTERNET WHILE YOU GUYS GET TO LOCK US UP FOR SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS HAVING A COLD?!?

Cue civil war, cue dissolution of the government by brute force and cue the end of <Country Name>’s leadership.

1. We've tried that. It didn't work.

2. It'd cleanse the gene pool of violent tendencies, if nothing else.

3. I already mentioned that this idea could set a "threshold" for how serious the illness needs to be to resort to quarantine over it. Apparently, this is not enough.

4. The NSA still gets employees.

5. See above.

[Bluelight-R006]

Is this a joke?

There’s people seriously discussing this lunacy so I guess I’ll give a serious answer.

1. The funding for this would be astronomical. Instead of funding this insane proposal how’s about funding a public service TV campaign encouraging people to stay home or go to a hospital on their own accord and when going to a store wipe their cart with the provided cleanser when they are finished shopping while also minimizing contact with others.

2. The backlash by citizens is likely to cause a civil war in <Country Name> that implements this. “You have a cold you are on house arrest for the next two weeks” is surely going to get some government heads killed.

3. Airport quarantines are not used against people with a cold the flu or other non life threatening illnesses. They are designed to stop the spread of dangerous infectious diseases. Colds and the flu are hardly dangerous unless you’re an infant or 90 years old.

4. No government workers will take the job Example Nelson gets hired by the <Country Name> government and is put on thermometer monitoring duty. Within three days Nelson smashes his computer to the floor and screams “Fuck this job, fuck this Orwellian shit, I’m emigrating, suck it guys! I quit!” He then moves out of the country.

5. What’s that data center? Government: That’s the thermometer data center and house arrest control center. People: AND WE STILL DEAL WITH SHIT SLOW INTERNET WHILE YOU GUYS GET TO LOCK US UP FOR SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS HAVING A COLD?!?

Cue civil war, cue dissolution of the government by brute force and cue the end of <Country Name>’s leadership.

Simply said, much financial and social discomfort brought.

This guy is suggesting supplies be thrown by people with long ladders or expensive drones, mini-ambulances for people with simple colds, and locking in people with their other relatives locked outside with nowhere to sleep. A hotel? Yeah, much more financial problems.

All this when we could walk to our nearby doctor’s office for treatment and get treated.

[Free Arabian Nation]

Is this a joke?

There’s people seriously discussing this lunacy so I guess I’ll give a serious answer.

1. The funding for this would be astronomical. Instead of funding this insane proposal how’s about funding a public service TV campaign encouraging people to stay home or go to a hospital on their own accord and when going to a store wipe their cart with the provided cleanser when they are finished shopping while also minimizing contact with others.

2. The backlash by citizens is likely to cause a civil war in <Country Name> that implements this. “You have a cold you are on house arrest for the next two weeks” is surely going to get some government heads killed.

3. Airport quarantines are not used against people with a cold the flu or other non life threatening illnesses. They are designed to stop the spread of dangerous infectious diseases. Colds and the flu are hardly dangerous unless you’re an infant or 90 years old.

4. No government workers will take the job Example Nelson gets hired by the <Country Name> government and is put on thermometer monitoring duty. Within three days Nelson smashes his computer to the floor and screams “Fuck this job, fuck this Orwellian shit, I’m emigrating, suck it guys! I quit!” He then moves out of the country.

5. What’s that data center? Government: That’s the thermometer data center and house arrest control center. People: AND WE STILL DEAL WITH SHIT SLOW INTERNET WHILE YOU GUYS GET TO LOCK US UP FOR SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS HAVING A COLD?!?

Cue civil war, cue dissolution of the government by brute force and cue the end of <Country Name>’s leadership.

1. We've tried that. It didn't work.

2. It'd cleanse the gene pool of violent tendencies, if nothing else.

3. I already mentioned that this idea could set a "threshold" for how serious the illness needs to be to resort to quarantine over it. Apparently, this is not enough.

4. The NSA still gets employees.

5. See above.

1. Yes, like the black death plague of 2005 that happened in Europe wiping out 12% of the population because someone had a cold

2. No, it wouldn't. Violent people aren't just gonna magically die off from this quarantine unless you purposefully infect them with bioweapons

3. How is a thermometer gonna determine that exactly?

4. You mean employees that leaked its secretes to the world?

5. See above

[Serrus]

That's what we in the business of naming things call a medocracy. It's an all around terrible idea, especially the way you suggest it.

[Kowani]

Y’know, I’m authoritarian. But this is a terrible fucking idea.