halacha - Could we drive an Ebola patient to quarantine on Shabbos?

I don't think anybody would argue that Ebola is a חולי שיש בו סכנה (an illness that involves danger to life)¹, which means that we not only may but must violate Shabbos in order to provide care for an Ebola patient.

That being the case, here are some Shabbos questions pertaining to Ebola:

• Would one be allowed to drive an Ebola patient to a quarantine on Shabbos, so that he would not infect others?



• Would it make a difference if he is still in danger from the Ebola, himself?


• Would it make a difference if the patient drives himself, or if others drive him?

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^{1 _{"The disease has a high risk of death, killing between 25 percent and 90 percent of those infected with the virus, with an average risk of 50 percent."
~ Wikipedia}}

Answer

To answer the questions, in order:

• 
  
  

  שמירת שבת כהלכתה (Rabbi YY Neuwirth) in 32:13 writes that if someone has a "מחלה מידבקת," an infectious disease, and there is a concern that he will infect those around him (and besides for the hospital, he cannot otherwise be kept in a מקום מבודד, a quarantine), he may be driven by car to the hospital on Shabbos, out of concern for the lives of others.

  
  


• 
  

  ibid, Rav Neuwirth writes that it makes no difference if the חולה is still in danger himself, where there is a chance that he might infect others.

  
  


• 
  

  In the same chapter, halacha 4, Rav Neuwirth writes that there is no difference between חילול שבת done to save a life that is done by the חולה, and between חילול שבת done by others on his behalf. Accordingly, it shouldn't make a difference who drives.
  However, I would suggest that, based on Rav Neuwirth's ruling in 32:23 (if it doesn't make a difference to the life-saving acts done, or the speed in which they're done, that חילול שבת should be minimized where possible), that probably as few people as possible should join the car ride, and that the patient should drive himself, if he can.