Marian Moser Jones featured in The Conversation on State Emergency facing COVID-19
Faculty Associate Marian Moser Jones and Professor Amy Lauren Fairchild, OSU Public Health, recently published an article on The Conversation explaining what it means when declaring a state emergency facing disease outbreaks such as the life-threatening COVID-19. ". . .[A]s experts in public health, we know that different states empower different types of officials to declare an emergency. This is important because a lack of clear lines complicated the response to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and, later, Hurricane Rita in Texas," they wrote.
During an infectious disease outbreak like COVID-19, emergency powers "allow state and federal governments to cancel public events and close businesses; and therefore slows the spread of disease, protecting individuals by limiting some choice regardless of their personal perception of risk. This both prevents new infections and protects the ability of the health care system to save lives," they wrote. The declarations enable temporary intrusions into citizen's customary rights.
See the complete story at The Conversation
The story was also picked up by The Telegraph
See the complete story at The Telegraph
The story was also picked up by Baltimore Sun