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Doctor Who Had Ebola Says Politicians Used His Sickness "To Appear Presidential"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 30, 2015
Modified Jan 30, 2015
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 30, 2015
Modified Jan 30, 2015
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Back in the fall, the City was in the grip of Ebola mania after Dr. Craig Spencer became the first NYC resident to test positive for the disease, which he contracted while on a Doctors Without Borders mission in West Africa.
Spencer was put through a month of tests and isolation while the public freaked out about subway poles and politicians bullied each other into rhetoric submission. Spencer watched everything from quarantine as it unfolded, and was appalled: "What I think and what I know is that what happened after my sickness was likely for many politicians a convenient chance to appear presidential," Spencer said in an interview with WNYC. "And I’m afraid that what was we forsake public health principles at the expense of political expediency. I’m very afraid that what we did in this situation is set a precedent that allowed politicians to make public health policies when they were not qualified to do so."
Spencer was confirmed to have the deadly disease on October 23rd, leading to a citywide investigation of his movements: going to his Hamilton Heights apartment and CSA, taking the subways, eating at the Meatball shop, visiting the High Line, buying Blue Bottle coffee, bowling at The Gutter in Williamsburg, taking an Uber home. Governor Cuomo and NJ Gov. Chris Christie made a big show of establishing a mandatory 21-day quarantine at state facilities, then changed their minds after political pressure. Mayor de Blasio did his best to keep NYers calm (by eating meatballs).
Spencer opened up in depth for the first time since his ordeal with WNYC, discussing the conditions in Africa, learning about his illness, and the subsequent quarantine. He believes people panicked because the media and politicians hyped the disease without really explaining it—and he says that his story then overshadowed the real story happening in West Africa:
I thought that my sickness and my message was extremely minimal and insignificant compared to the larger message that we weren’t tackling and that was there’s still a crisis. Ebola still rages in West Africa. There was no reason for you to be at my door … when what we need to be doing is saying there’s a huge problem half way across the world and we need to do something about it.
But as he put it, he "could understand the fear because I don’t think people were given a reason to not fear."
Everyone was worried about touching a subway pole but what they don’t realize is that the day before when I got on the train, *I* was worried about touching the subway pole, because what happens if I get the flu or I get a stomach bug and I start having diarrhea or I start having nausea, or a fever -- I go through a whole cascade of events that are really tough and difficult... I understood what would happen if I had to to to the hospital so - I was the person as far away from everyone else as possible. I didn’t touch anything on the subway, I didn’t touch a pole- I put antibacterial gel on my hands repeatedly. Because I was afraid of me getting sick - at no point was I afraid that I was going to get anyone else sick.
Tagged
andrew cuomo
Chris Christie
craig spencer
ebola
health
hyper
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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