Andrew Cuomo: Anxiety over Ebola is a good thing (Video)

With many Americans concerned about the potential spread of the Ebola virus, Manhattan hospitals quarantining patients who present with flu-like symptoms, and the public bearish on the administration’s ability to handle the disease, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo went with the silver-lining method.

Cuomo, in an appearance on “CBS This Morning,” said anxiety about the disease “can be healthy.” Via the Weekly Standard:

[The] Ebola crisis for us … poses two separate problems: one is the medical, public health issue and the second is the panic, anxiety issue that goes along with it….

From a medical point of view, it’s a question of having the right protocols in place, making sure the hospitals understand the protocols, making sure the personnel understand the protocols, making sure they have the right equipment. And that we’re working through. [Emphasis added]

At the same time, the dialogue on Ebola is — it’s amazing how quickly panic can set in — a little anxiety can be healthy. But we have to watch what we say and how we say it, because panic is never productive. [Emphasis added]

The first boldfaced comment suggests Cuomo himself is wearing blinders. The evidence is mounting by the day that the CDC is anything but up to the task of ensuring that its “personnel understand the protocols” and that “the right equipment” is in place.

As for the notion of healthy anxiety, Cuomo is even less of an authority. Earlier this year, he urged the public to temper its anxiety as he announced a new agreement with New Jersey to combat terrorism.

Cuomo also experienced some “healthy” anxiety of his own just prior to the New York Times’s releasing a bombshell report that demonstrated he interfered with his own ethics panel.

Cross-posted at the Mental Recession

Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss is editor of the Mental Recession, one of the top conservative blogs of 2012. His writings have appeared at the Daily Caller, American Thinker, FoxNews.com, Big Government, the Times Union, and the Troy Record.

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