90-Second Read: White House's response to Hantavirus and Ebola is at odds with COVID criticisms

The second Trump administration, the current one, has imposed tough restrictions to prevent the spread of Ebola and Hantavirus, and that is a departure from the first Trump administration's response to COVID. JHA: And yet in response to the Hantavirus and Ebola, this administration has chosen to impose very draconian and extreme public health measures. HODGE: What we did experience post-COVID, rejecting authoritarian or strict or very heavy-handed public health interventions, have been somewhat abandoned by this administration, at least in response to Hantavirus.

The Trump administration has imposed tough restrictions in response to Hantavirus and Ebola, including quarantine orders and travel bans. STEIN: Passengers aboard the cruise ship hit by the Hantavirus were told their confinement inside a Nebraska quarantine unit was voluntary. STEIN: In an email to NPR, Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon said the administration was mounting an aggressive response, but said the restrictions were targeted and aimed at protecting the health and safety of the American people.

But Redfield says a general travel ban from the region and the restrictions on the Hantavirus passengers are reasonable. STEIN: But critics worry the administration could deploy aggressive tactics like these on a much larger scale if an outbreak of Hantavirus, Ebola or some other pathogen actually erupts in the U.S. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. ASHISH JHA: They have spent so much time talking about not having the government impose on people's individual decisions and individual movement and argued that individual freedom trumps public health guidance.