You Say "Quarantine," I Say "Solid Writing Time"

I don't know Prof. Chunlin Leonhard (Loyola Univ. New Orleans), an American who was evacuated from Wuhan and who is now in a two-week-long mandated quarantine, but I like her spirit; from Karen Sloan (Law.com):

For now, the quarantine isn't too bad, Leonhard said. The evacuees can go outside, though they must remain within the fencing of the hotel grounds. They get three meals delivered each day, in addition to mandatory temperature checks.

"I have Internet access," she said. "I collected a lot of materials in China, so I can work on my law review article on ancient Chinese contract law. My research continues regardless."

Thanks to Dean Paul Caron (TaxProf Blog) and Prof. Glenn Reynolds (InstaPundit) for the pointer.

Comments

[ThePublius]

I am dismayed that you make light of this crisis. The professor could indeed die of this, and cause others to die as well. You characterize it as "no big deal." Ha, ha, big vacation, sabbatical. Maybe we can all have a big yuk at her funeral.

[Krayt]

He's lightheartedly relating a quarantine guest's own story.

[Eugene Volokh]

Lightheartedly relating and admiring (hence the "I like her spirit"). Here she's facing a 100% certainty of something that people generally find quite annoying (quarantine), plus a very small but nonzero probability of death (low probability of being infected times a low probability of dying if she is infected). But she's not showing either fear or annoyance (whatever she might feel on the inside) -- instead, she's putting a good face on it, and in a dedicated-scholar sort of way. Nice.

[Liberty Lover]

You have a better possibility of surviving if you are being watched in quarantine and get medical treatment sooner. You can die if not in quarantine too from the virus. No one wants to be the Typhoid Mary of the Corona virus.

[Dyzalot]

How does the professor die or cause others to die due to a quarantine?

[Commenter_XY]

Somewhat off topic. Professor...

Under what conditions can the federal government declare an emergency, and quarantine the country? The CDC seems to have instituted a 'spot quarantine' for isolated individuals. How far does that authority actually extend? Could they quarantine a city? A state?

I mean, I don't think that (a country-based quarantine) was done way back in 1917-1919 during the Spanish Flu. But we now have a more interconnected global economy. The spread of a serious illness rapidly is a much higher risk factor now.

[Nityara]

I thought he has commented using void text generator