Don’t repeat the mistakes of 1918

A positive COVID-19 serological test at a laboratory in Colmar, eastern France, on April 14, the 29th day of a strict lockdown in France to stop the spread of COVID-19.SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

This truth is that we do not know — and at this point cannot know— who has COVID-19 and who does not. Recent estimates are that as many as 1 in 4 cases may be asymptomatic. Thousands of people who have fallen sick and who may have the virus have been unable to obtain a test, and so won’t appear on any list of homes provided to responders. Providing the addresses to first responders of people who have tested positive thus makes no sense — from either a public health or patient privacy perspective. To protect public health, we cannot create lists that give our responders a false sense of security and instead they must treat everyone as a potential carrier of the virus.

First responders deserve the best equipment, and the best policies, to ensure their safety. But the harsh reality is that our first responders continue to lack sufficient personal protective equipment and, system-wide, we don’t have enough COVID-19 tests. Emergency medical technicians, paramedics, firefighters, and police officers — like our doctors, nurses, and other front-line essential workers — are being asked to continue to do their jobs amid acute conditions, without the equipment they need to keep themselves safe.

Thankfully, government officials in Massachusetts are taking important steps to address the lack of PPE and tests for front-line workers. The Baker administration and Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston announced plans to set up additional testing sites that give priority to first responders. These sites should be open to all workers who are putting themselves at risk, whether they are first responders or grocery store workers.

Ultimately, we must listen to public health consensus during public health emergencies. And the public health experts are clear: The twin threats of community-level transmission and a lack of wide-scale testing make the use of home addresses dangerously ineffective. Worse, since screening is critical to slowing the spread of the disease, disclosing addresses of confirmed cases will undermine public health efforts by deterring some people from seeking testing and treatment — just like during the 1918 influenza.

Sometimes public health needs overtake our normal expectations of privacy or other civil liberties. But disclosing the home addresses of people who have tested positive is not one of those cases. First responders, like all of us, should treat every person they interact with as a possible COVID-19 patient. Relying on the training of our first responders, not the home addresses of those stricken by the virus, is the best way to ensure public health and safety for everyone.

Carol Rose is the executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. Robert Greenwald is a clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School and the faculty director of the Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation.