I read Rep. Ben Carpenter’s comments that, essentially, having legislators confirm that they are (as far as they know) disease-free is akin to Nazi Germany putting armbands on Jews before sending them to gas chambers. I assume that there are no gas chambers in Juneau. He also posited that COVID-19-positive patients could be ‘rounded up’: I would assert “to be cared for in hospitals, regardless of public expense," because Alaskans are decent people who care for each other.
Given the decimation of the Alaska Native communities in the 1918-1919 pandemic, I believe it is wise to do our very best to control the spread of disease, especially to the rural communities.
I am a physician (not of Jewish heritage, in case that is an issue), and am appalled at his comments. I hope that there is an avenue to censure this type of judgmental thinking and educate him on the history of pandemics, the Holocaust and culture and history of Alaska.
Merijeanne Moore
Distinguished Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
Anchorage
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