Epidemiology prof says Trump administration should halt interstate travel, set up 'quarantine sites'

An assistant professor of epidemiology with the Boston University School of Public Health is calling for sweeping measures from the federal government to combat COVID-19 in the United States, arguing that failing to do so will put the U.S. in the grip of the coronavirus "for the foreseeable future."

Ellie Murray posted on Twitter this week about being asked by her dentist "when will [the pandemic] be over." Her response, she claimed, was: "Whenever we want, if the government would just take concerted & decisive action."

To that end, Murray said, the federal government should enact numerous measures nationwide to halt the spread of COVID-19, arguing that "if we take coordinated, decisive, and evidence-based action NOW, we could think about making Thanksgiving or Christmas plans."

Among the necessary measures the Trump administration should take, according to Murray, are to: "Shut down non-essential indoors activities again & halt interstate travel;" procure "safe quarantine & isolation sites;" institute "federal paid sick leave & paid *quarantine* leave for all employees" along with "universal basic income for the duration of the pandemic," and numerous other policies, including "laptops for every school kid & teacher & WAY more funding for schools."

"I know many of you won't like some or all of this," Murray writes in the thread. "That’s not my problem because I’m not in charge of anything."  

Murray's call to action comes as the United States has seen a sustained decline in daily new cases for nearly a month. Johns Hopkins University indicates that the daily average of new cases has been declining since about late July, falling from a peak of around 70,000 average new cases then to a little under 47,000 now.