Mandatory Quarantine for Ebola Aid Workers

New York and New Jersey set up mandatory quarantine requirement.Is this a step in the right direction? Belated?
Your thoughts?

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — In the wake of the first confirmed Ebola virus case in New York City, the states of New York and New Jersey have set up a new screening system that goes above and beyond the guidelines already set up by federal officials.“We believe it’s appropriate to increase the current screening procedures from people coming from affected countries from the current (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention screening procedures),” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday afternoon. “We believe it within the State of New York and the State of New Jersey’s legal rights.”

The patients with the highest level of possible exposure will be automatically quarantined for 21 days at a government-regulated facility. Those with a lower risk will be monitored for temperature and symptoms, Cuomo explained.On Friday, a health care worker landed at Newark after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said at the news conference. A legal quarantine was issued for the woman, who was not a New Jersey resident and was set to go on to New York afterward.

The patients with the highest level of possible exposure will be automatically quarantined for 21 days at a government-regulated facility.

Sources:
medicinehatnews.com...
newyork.cbslocal.com...

a reply to: ~Lucidity

In the news: Christie and Cuomo ordered mandatory quarantine for health workers.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The governors of New Jersey and New York on Friday ordered a mandatory, 21-day quarantine for all doctors and other arriving travellers who have had contact with Ebola victims in West Africa...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the case led them to conclude that the two states need guidelines more rigorous than those of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends monitoring exposed people for 21 days but doesn’t require quarantine, in which people are kept away from others, either at home or some other place.

“It’s too serious a situation to leave it to the honour system of compliance,” Cuomo said.

Dr. Howard Zucker, acting New York state health commissioner, said that any medical personnel who have treated Ebola patients in the three Ebola-ravaged West African countries – Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia – “will be automatically quarantined.”

However, Doctors Without Borders frowns on mandatory quarantine:

Doctors Without Borders, the group Spencer was working for, said in a statement that that would be going too far. People with Ebola aren’t contagious until symptoms begin, and even then it requires close contact with body fluids.
As long as a returned staff member does not experience any symptoms, normal life can proceed,” the organization said in a statement.

Aid organizations also warned that many health care volunteers wouldn’t go to Ebola hot zones if they knew they would be confined to their homes for three weeks after they got back.

medicinehatnews.com...

a reply to: drwill

Good. Finally someone with some balls.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Amen. It's a brave, bold move. No hesitating or dithering.

Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the case led them to conclude that the two states need guidelines more rigorous than those of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Ya is no big deal, HCW are getting this bug left and right with protection protcol but hey not to worry everyone. No need to quarantine!!! WTF is going on. When our kids start getting it maybe then dumbass Eboma will and the liars at the cdc will get a clue! Seriously this is preposterous,

I still do not understand why these quarantines are occuring in populated areas. If someone is possibly infected, there should be an area isolated by man made, as well as natural boundries. 5 miles out to sea on any of the hundreds-thousands of container ships in U.S. water ways would work well I think., or even some of the old drilling rigs could be retrofitted relativly quickly I think. 5 miles of ocean would make breaking quarantine pretty difficult me thinks.

a reply to: tranquilone666
A reporter on Fox just said emphatically that a pandemic isn't likely. But I keep thinking about the dire stats and warnings that are coming out of W. Africa. As long as potentially infected workers are allowed to self-monitor (not in NY or NJ anymore), and if they do, in fact, develop the disease, then it is given an advantage in a strange, new land.
You may have just described what could happen if, god forbid, a pandemic swept across the US and Europe. (Edited to add: My imagination went wild for a moment--burials at sea, etc.)

a reply to: drwill
I posted that in the NYC thread. Gave ya credit. Hope I didn't mess it up it was a lot of quoting stuff.

a reply to: ~Lucidity
I saw your thread and starred it. Thank you so much! I'm glad the news is getting out. In just a week, we've seen the government reject the idea of tightening down on travelers--and workers-- from affected regions. Then we hear waffling. "I'm not theoretically opposed to a travel ban," Pres. Obama said, then he recited lyrics from the Kool-Aid song.
A baby step here, a baby step there.
It's a relief to see someone take charge.

a reply to: drwill

Reuters on this...and they've already started.

UPDATE 10-Two U.S. states to quarantine health workers returning from Ebola zones

The new policy applies to medical workers returning from the region through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. In the first instance of the new move, a female healthcare worker who had treated patients in West Africa and arrived at the Newark, New Jersey, airport was ordered into quarantine.

a reply to: ~Lucidity
Thanks for the link.
Here's hoping that IL (O'Hare) and GA (Hartsfield-Jackson) follow this example.

a reply to: drwill

On Hartsfield next! I'm ALL for that.

This move by the governors seems to be getting some very positive reaction.

a reply to: drwill

I had no idea that he actually said anything about baby steps. Honestly what makes them think that babysteps are appropriate for this? Maybe he would change his mind if one of the guys who jumped the white house fence tested positive.

a reply to: tranquilone666
Oh, no, it's not a quote. I'm sorry for the confusion. In regards to Ebola, I have taken liberties with that phrase. From the get go, it seemed clear to many that quarantine was the only way to contain Ebola; yet nothing happened. Every other day, the CDC was pushing a different agenda--right or wrong. From my perspective (armchair quarterback), the government has moved in slow-as-molasses increments to protect its people from Ebola. Thus, baby steps. I'd prefer to see brave leaps, like a travel ban. Just my humble opinion is all.

originally posted by: drwill
New quarantine rules considered for aid workers returning to U.S. from Ebola-stricken region

The federal government is considering altering the protocols for doctors and health-care workers who return to the United States from West Africa, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Friday morning.

www.washingtonpost.com...
Well, it's about time. Unless the gov wants to spin itself silly from now on, it behooves them to eat crow and protect the people.

But wait, I'm confused.

Doctors Without Borders insisted Friday, after one of its doctors who worked in Guinea came down with Ebola in New York City, that self-quarantines are not necessary when there are no symptoms of the disease.

abcnews.go.com...

Maybe two aspiring politicians refuse to swallow the rhetoric anymore and are pulling away from the party line? One thought anyway. Maybe protecting their state FINALLY, or attempting to anyway? Hopefully it's not too late, but you never know.

a reply to: Anyafaj

My thoughts? Both NYC and NJ have been through a lot since 9/11 and through Hurricane Sandy and are not going to sit around waiting from someone to do something FOR them. They just decided to do it themselves and not wait around for the bureaucratic, paralyzed worthless dweebs in DC decided on something.

Hoping the rest of the country takes a hint.

a reply to: WeRpeons

CNN's Sanjay Gupta is upset about the quarantine, claiming it isn't pleasing to the docs to be buttoned up for 21 days after a tour in hot zones. A former CDC "disease detective,' Dr. Seema Yasmin, gave an emotional account about one of her friends, a Doctors without Borders nurse, who returned from a hot zone today, only to have her luggage put in biohazard wrapping, and she herself was whisked away to a room. Bam, quarantine. She immediately started making phone calls.

Dr Yasmin tweeted: 'My friend an MSF nurse is being held against her will at Newark airprt because she returned from a grueling month treating #Ebola in WAfrica'

The Daily Mail reported:

'Doctors Without Borders nurse' is quarantined at Newark airport despite having no virus symptoms amid stricter screening for West Africa travelers. A woman has been quarantined at Newark Airport due to stricter screening protocols on Friday after reporting contact with Ebola victims.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the woman arrived at the airport on a flight on Friday from West Africa. He earlier announced that additional screening protocols were being implemented at JFK and Newark International Airports.

At a joint press conference with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Christie said a health care worker already has been quarantined even though she has no symptoms.


Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Well, guess what? The nurse is running a fever tonight, according to an update by Anderson Cooper on CNN.

Additional Sources:
newsglobal.us...
newsglobal.us...

www.dailymail.co.uk...

originally posted by: drwill
a reply to: WeRpeons

CNN's Sanjay Gupta is upset about the quarantine, claiming it isn't pleasing to the docs to be buttoned up for 21 days after a tour in hot zones. A former CDC "disease detective,' Dr. Seema Yasmin, gave an emotional account about one of her friends, a Doctors without Borders nurse, who returned from a hot zone today, only to have her luggage put in biohazard wrapping, and she herself was whisked away to a room. Bam, quarantine. She immediately started making phone calls.

Dr Yasmin tweeted: 'My friend an MSF nurse is being held against her will at Newark airprt because she returned from a grueling month treating #Ebola in WAfrica'

The Daily Mail reported:

'Doctors Without Borders nurse' is quarantined at Newark airport despite having no virus symptoms amid stricter screening for West Africa travelers. A woman has been quarantined at Newark Airport due to stricter screening protocols on Friday after reporting contact with Ebola victims.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the woman arrived at the airport on a flight on Friday from West Africa. He earlier announced that additional screening protocols were being implemented at JFK and Newark International Airports.

At a joint press conference with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Christie said a health care worker already has been quarantined even though she has no symptoms.


Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Well, guess what? The nurse is running a fever tonight, according to an update by Anderson Cooper on CNN.

Additional Sources:
newsglobal.us...
newsglobal.us...

www.dailymail.co.uk...

PRICELESS

a reply to: drwill

Wow, cry me a river. If these aid workers have enough backbone to help victims of Ebola in Africa, they can at least have a backbone to accept a 30 day quarantine. Don't get me wrong, I think what these aid workers are doing is highly commendable for putting themselves at risk. However, to come home and act like you don't understand why you're being quarantined is clearly showing yourself as not comprehending the possible circumstances related to your work. I myself would feel guilty if I was an aid worker and came back to the United States, ignored quarantining myself, and then later finding out I've caused an entire city to be on edge and possibly infecting people going about their daily lives.

What gets me, is these healthcare workers have seen up close how contagious and deadly the Ebola virus is in Africa. To come back to the United States and complain about being quarantined against her will is simply not being professional and ignoring the risk they pose to the general public. Just because they're doctors doesn't mean they can think these quarantines shouldn't be applied to them. It's irresponsible, and it's a poor understanding of the risks that go along with their profession. If you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen!

a reply to: WeRpeons
I agree with everything you wrote. If someone returns from a hot zone, I am grateful, but my gratitude doesn't cover irresponsible behavior, like, flitting around NYC. He thought he'd outsmarted a virus. I just hope he didn't spread it. Quarantine shouldn't be thought of as punishment. Maybe it's an unexpected journey: a time to read, paint, blog, learn to identify birds.