Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Governor Andrew Cuomo said travelers returning from West Africa who were exposed to Ebola will be allowed to stay in their homes under New York’s 21-day quarantine, with lost income to be reimbursed by the state if not by their employer.
The details of the policy, similar to one announced later by New Jersey, came after a nurse confined in a tent at a Newark hospital complained about her treatment and the White House expressed concern about the quarantines. Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had appeared together on Oct. 24 to announce the quarantine measures, which President Barack Obama’s administration said could hurt aid efforts.
“Some people may believe a 21-day home quarantine is a burden,” Cuomo said last night at a news conference. “From an operational efficiency point of view and a safety point of view, the preferred option is to ask them to stay at home.”
Government officials are struggling to calm fears of contagion while not penalizing aid workers who venture to the countries at the center of the still-raging epidemic. In West Africa, the virus has infected about 10,000 people and killed about half, according to the World Health Organization. In the U.S., one man who traveled from Liberia died.
Tougher Measures
The quarantines in New York and New Jersey go beyond guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which emphasize self-monitoring. States have the authority to develop their own approaches and the CDC’s forthcoming policy revisions will reflect that, Cuomo said.
Travelers arriving at New York area airports from West Africa will pass through three layers of screening, Howard Zucker, New York’s acting health commissioner, said at the briefing. They’ll start with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, then the CDC, then will meet with state and local health officials who will determine if they’ll be subject to quarantine. Travelers who are sick will be taken to a hospital immediately.
Those determined to have had direct contact with the deadly virus are to remain at home and will be subject to unannounced check-ups from state or local health department workers twice daily. While they’ll be allowed visitors, the prohibition on going out in public will decrease the number of people authorities would have to track down later should symptoms appear, Cuomo said.
“Enjoy yourself, enjoy your family, but remain home,” Cuomo said.
Administration Complaints
Of the about 30 people who arrive daily in New York City airports from West Africa, the policy would probably apply to just one or two, city Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said.
Cuomo, a Democrat, and Christie, a Republican, announced the quarantines after New York City doctor Craig Spencer was diagnosed with the virus following his return from Guinea.
The Obama administration was developing new directives after telling the governors that their orders weren’t consistent with how Ebola spreads, and may discourage volunteers from going to Africa to treat victims, according to a senior administration official who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.
Nurse’s Rage
They were also attacked by relief groups, with much criticism directed at New Jersey, where the nurse quarantined Oct. 24 after arriving from Sierra Leone with a fever has spoken out about her treatment by officials, who she said were uncaring and neglectful.
“To put me through this emotional and physical stress is completely unacceptable,” Kaci Hickox said in an interview on CNN yesterday. She was detained after returning from a monthlong assignment with Doctors Without Borders and has said her temperature was from a flush of anger. Her Ebola test came back negative.
Christie, in Florida yesterday, said he doesn’t plan to rescind the mandatory quarantine order.
“We need to protect the public safety of the folks in the most densely populated area in the country and that’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “And I understand that this has made this woman uncomfortable and I’m sorry that she’s uncomfortable but the fact is I have the people in New Jersey as my first and foremost responsibility.”
Cruel Measures
The state won’t change its protocol for people who have been in proximity to the disease, Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Christie, said in a news release last night. A New Jersey resident without symptoms would be subject to a mandatory home quarantine. Those from outside the state would be taken home if feasible or be confined in New Jersey.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, took to the Sunday morning talk shows to call the quarantines “Draconian” and said he wouldn’t have recommended them.
“You want to continue to make the safety of the American public paramount,” Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union with Candy Crowley.” “But it is critically important that you do that based on scientific evidence and data.”
Ebola is transferred through contact with body fluids after a person has shown symptoms that can include a higher temperature, body aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Spencer, whose activities outside his home prior to developing symptoms prompted the policies, was in serious condition at Bellevue Hospital Center as the virus progressed.
Cuomo said he wants to find ways to encourage more health care workers like Spencer to volunteer in West Africa, including the possibility of extending benefits similar to those granted to military reservists who leave their jobs in wartime.
The governor said he hasn’t had any contact with the White House in which he was asked to rescind the quarantine order.
“I’ve informed them of our policy,” Cuomo said. “If the CDC thinks that a different policy works in a different part of the country, that’s great. But I think this is the best policy for New York.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Esme E. Deprez in New York at edeprez@bloomberg.net; Freeman Klopott in Albany at fklopott@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net Alan Goldstein
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1v43j5L
0 comments:
Post a Comment