On July 26th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted “Operational Considerations for Humanitarian Settings” to its website under “Global COVID-19.” Having received virtually zero media attention, it seems to be supporting highly questionable internment practices disguised by the term “shielding.”
“This document presents considerations from the perspective of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) for implementing the shielding approach in humanitarian settings as outlined in guidance documents focused on camps, displaced populations and low-resource settings” the post begins.
The document acknowledges “green zones” for those at “high risk” of contracting the virus. The goal is to “protect high-risk populations from disease and death” it claims, while admitting “this approach has never been documented and has raised questions and concerns among humanitarian partners who support response activities in these settings.”
The New American writes that although the document appears to refer to settings outside the United States, “the suggestion that governments should erect safe zones to quarantine healthy but at-risk people should alarm Americans already faced with mask and vaccine mandates.”
“The purpose of this document is to highlight potential implementation challenges of the shielding approach from CDC’s perspective and guide thinking around implementation in the absence of empirical data” the document states. Undoubtedly they will face tremendous “Implementation challenges” because what they are proposing violates human rights be forcing individuals into what are essentially internment camps.
As The New American sums up, the document is “what sounds like a blueprint for a future action” which “describes three levels of confinement. The targeted will be ‘temporarily relocated to safe or ‘green zones’ in the household, neighborhood, camp/sector or community level.’ Each involves isolation.” Each of the three levels are summarized below.
The CDC says of the first and luckiest level of at home isolation:
Low-risk HH members should not enter the green zone. If entry is necessary, it should be done only by healthy individuals after washing hands and using face coverings. Interactions should be at a safe distance (approx. 2 meters). Minimum movement of high-risk individuals outside the green zone. Low-risk HH members continue to follow social distancing and hygiene practices outside the house.
Next level applies to the “neighborhood” and the “Camp/Sector” Level:
A group of shelters such as schools, community buildings within a camp/sector (max 50 high-risk individuals per single green zone) where high-risk individuals are physically isolated together.
And finally, the “green zone” with tight restrictions:
One entry point is used for exchange of food, supplies, etc. A meeting area is used for residents and visitors to interact while practicing physical distancing (2 meters). No movement into or outside the green zone.
As for high-risk children, they are not exempt from “operational considerations.” They will “be accompanied into isolation by a single caregiver who will also be considered a green zone resident in terms of movements and contacts with those outside the green zone.”
