Managing this 'here' vs 'there': The U.S. has been using this outbreak as a pretense to put in a lot of restrictive travel policies. Even if many of these actions aren't really helpful or operationally meaningful, they are often a bipartisan move that usually gets put in place in response to Ebola outbreaks. But this administration has gone way beyond funneling people into certain airports for screening. It's banning outright travelers, including permanent residents of the U.S. This is a policy you put in place when you have nothing else meaningful to add. It gives the appearance of doing 'something' while effectively doing nothing of value at all. And it takes away attention from where the real problem is. For justification, they claim this move is “critical to slowing the introduction of Ebola disease into the United States”—but the only thing that’d meaningfully reduce that risk is actually ending the outbreak in DR Congo and the region. These moves are just a proxy for the more important and impactful work we could and should be doing. This piece by @bylenasun & @LaurenWeberHP gives a good rundown of the most recent policy on restricting green-card holders that've been in the region from coming back to the U.S. washingtonpost.com/health/20…