EDITORIAL - Irresponsible

If the government is 100 percent sure that the soldiers are virus-free, what’s the point of placing them under 21-day quarantine on an island?

That’s the question being asked after the acting secretary of health and the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines dropped in on Caballo Island, wearing no hazmat suits to protect them from possible infection, ostensibly to cheer up the soldiers who are undergoing a 21-day quarantine against the Ebola virus.

Perhaps the soldiers were cheered up, but the public was not. AFP chief Gregorio Catapang Jr. explained that his visit was meant to show that the soldiers were not supposed to be stigmatized. But who said they are?

Putting people under health quarantine is not meant to humiliate them or violate their rights. It is a precautionary measure to protect public health. That includes the health of those dear to the individuals being quarantined.

The government took the unusual measure in the case of 133 Filipino soldiers returning from United Nations peacekeeping duties in Ebola-hit Liberia because of the virulence of the disease. It’s no overreaction. Of the 5,177 confirmed deaths from the world’s worst Ebola outbreak, 2,812 were recorded in Liberia.

Events in other countries including the United States and Spain have shown that Ebola can manifest itself several weeks after a patient has shown no symptoms – which is what happened to several health professionals who returned to their countries after working at health centers in West Africa. This is the reason why governments are placing their citizens returning from Ebola-hit countries under quarantine.

Health Secretary Janette Garin should be the first to understand the reason for the protocol, and to lead the nation in precautionary measures. Perhaps she and Catapang thought they were emulating US President Barack Obama, who embraced an Ebola-infected nurse – but this was after the nurse was treated and declared free of the virus.

That clearance has not been given to the Filipino peacekeepers. If any of them carried the virus and it infected either Catapang or Garin, the two have had a lot of opportunities to spread it, in crowded government offices and public places.

That visit without protective suits, obviously meant for a photo opportunity, constituted a reckless endangerment of public health. It was plain irresponsible. Garin and Catapang need a break from their duties – something longer than 21 days.