1/n There's some concerns being expressed about the implications for privacy and liberty of case based interventions that encourage widespread screening for #COVID19, and use public health interventions that require people who are infected and contagious to self isolate.

2/n These concerns shouldn't be ignored, but also should be put in context. Case-based interventions that identify disease outbreaks, and contain spread, are a mainstay of public health prevention for deadly pathogens from Polio to Ebola to Measles, and countless deadly pathogens

3/n How we implement these efforts, and seek consent, should be carefully considered. But ultimately, we face hard trade-offs between pervasive risk of epidemics and outbreaks; population mitigation (what we have now); or the effective application of case-based interventions.

4/n That doesn't mean one hard reality will give way to another. We may implement case based interventions and still have large outbreaks. But we need to balance our considerations against the harsh reality that, until we get to a vaccine, #COVID19 will remain a constant menace.

5/n In near term we are faced with unattractive choices that require hard tradeoffs and careful balancing. But one of greatest threats to liberty, perhaps, is the prospect that #COVID19 continues to circulate unchecked, and populations are confined to homes of fear or legal order

6/n What do to contain spread must balance all of these risks and concerns. The issues related to individual liberty are important. We can't let a virus claim cherished freedoms. But ultimately, it's hard to envision a vibrant society while this virus is also circulating freely.