Public disclosure can become dangerous, which is why when discussing disclosure and COVID-19, I would say that I disagree with releasing names of individuals who have tested positive.
Testing positive for COVID-19 already comes with a heavy load of mental and physical health problems for an individual to deal with. Should we be adding shame and a possible safety threat from angry civilians on top of this? Absolutely not. We should be contacting people who have come in contact with these individuals, but that does not mean that names need to be involved, especially when speaking publicly.
Not only is it a violation of these people’s privacy, but it can result in some heavy liability issues for the organizations that disclose who ‘Patient Zero’ might be… especially if they get it wrong.
I say; stop the blame, stop the shame and do not release names.
