Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Joint Chiefs Chairman Urges 21-Day Quarantine for Troops Working in Ebola Zone - New York Times


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Obama on U.S. Ebola Patients



Obama on U.S. Ebola Patients



President Obama discussed the two Ebola patients who contracted the virus on American soil and reiterated that the epidemic must be stopped at its source.


Video by Reuters on Publish Date October 28, 2014. Photo by Jabin Botsford/The New York Times.


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WASHINGTON — Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday that all members of the armed services working in Ebola-stricken West African countries undergo mandatory 21-day quarantines upon their return to the United States.


Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said that Mr. Hagel was expected to announce shortly that he would follow the recommendation.


The recommendation follows a directive from Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, who has ordered a 21-day “controlled monitoring” period for Army personnel returning from the Ebola zone in West Africa. Army officials are not using the word “quarantine,” but they said that returning soldiers would be isolated in separate buildings on American bases and would not be allowed to see their families for 21 days.


General Dempsey’s recommendation came a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance to states on how to treat civilian health workers when they return to the United States from West Africa. Officials recommended against automatic quarantines but said that health workers should be actively monitored for symptoms of Ebola.


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President Obama on Tuesday called the new guidelines “sensible, based in science” and said they would help keep Americans safe while not discouraging volunteers from traveling to West Africa to battle the disease at its source.


“This disease can be contained,” Mr. Obama said in a brief statement at the White House before leaving for a campaign rally in Milwaukee for Mary Burke, a candidate for governor in Wisconsin. “It will be defeated. Progress is possible, but we are going to have to stay vigilant.”


Of the aid workers who are in Africa, Mr. Obama said: “They are doing God’s work.”


Also on Tuesday, a Dallas nurse whose Ebola diagnosis and airline trips elevated public concerns that the virus could spread in the United States was discharged from a hospital in Atlanta.


The nurse, Amber Joy Vinson, spent less than two weeks in a specialized ward at Emory University Hospital before doctors said she was free of the virus, which has infected more than 10,000 people, mostly in West Africa, in an outbreak this year.


Ms. Vinson is one of four people to test positive for Ebola in the United States, although hospitals have treated others who got the virus while abroad.


“I am so grateful to be well, and first and foremost, I want to thank God,” Ms. Vinson said at a news conference on Tuesday at Emory, which since August has successfully treated three other patients with Ebola.


In recent weeks the Obama administration has struggled to present a unified approach to dealing with those who return to the United States from the Ebola hot spots. That issue was complicated over the weekend when the governors of New York and .0New Jersey called for quarantines that federal officials say are not medically necessary.


On Tuesday, White House officials tried to explain why the military guidelines outlined by General Odierno are different from those for civilian health workers. Soldiers in West Africa, who are not directly providing health care to patients in those countries, have far less contact with Ebola patients than do civilian nurses and doctors in those countries who will not face quarantines under the C.D.C. guidelines.


Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said it would be more efficient for the Army to simply isolate all of its returning soldiers rather than trying to assess which ones present greater risks for contracting Ebola.


“The men and women who are being deployed to West Africa are coming from military installations around the world,” Mr. Earnest said. “And so for the sake of efficiency, there’s an obvious benefit to restricting the movements of these individuals so that their health can be monitored consistent with scientific guidelines.”


Defense officials said that the large number of American military personnel deploying to West Africa — which could eventually reach 3,900 troops — coupled with anxiety among family members and the relative ease of isolating returning service members on bases were all factors that led to the decision to go further than the White House and the C.D.C. had recommended.


In his remarks, Mr. Obama defended the C.D.C. guidelines for civilians, saying they protect Americans at home while not unduly burdening health workers in Africa. He called the situation with members of the military different, in part because they are not going to Africa voluntarily.


“We don’t expect them to have similar rules, and by definition, they’re working under more circumscribed circumstances,” Mr. Obama said.



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http://nyti.ms/ZZlOzp






















Continue reading the main storyVideo

Play Video|1:23

Obama on U.S. Ebola Patients



Obama on U.S. Ebola Patients



President Obama discussed the two Ebola patients who contracted the virus on American soil and reiterated that the epidemic must be stopped at its source.


Video by Reuters on Publish Date October 28, 2014.Photo by Jabin Botsford/The New York Times.


Continue reading the main storyShare This Page


WASHINGTON — Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday that all members of the armed services working in Ebola-stricken West African countries undergo mandatory 21-day quarantines upon their return to the United States.


Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said that Mr. Hagel was expected to announce shortly that he would follow the recommendation.


The recommendation follows a directive from Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, who has ordered a 21-day “controlled monitoring” period for Army personnel returning from the Ebola zone in West Africa. Army officials are not using the word “quarantine,” but they said that returning soldiers would be isolated in separate buildings on American bases and would not be allowed to see their families for 21 days.


General Dempsey’s recommendation came a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance to states on how to treat civilian health workers when they return to the United States from West Africa. Officials recommended against automatic quarantines but said that health workers should be actively monitored for symptoms of Ebola.


Continue reading the main story

More Ebola Coverage




]]>

President Obama on Tuesday called the new guidelines “sensible, based in science” and said they would help keep Americans safe while not discouraging volunteers from traveling to West Africa to battle the disease at its source.


“This disease can be contained,” Mr. Obama said in a brief statement at the White House before leaving for a campaign rally in Milwaukee for Mary Burke, a candidate for governor in Wisconsin. “It will be defeated. Progress is possible, but we are going to have to stay vigilant.”


Of the aid workers who are in Africa, Mr. Obama said: “They are doing God’s work.”


Also on Tuesday, a Dallas nurse whose Ebola diagnosis and airline trips elevated public concerns that the virus could spread in the United States was discharged from a hospital in Atlanta.


The nurse, Amber Joy Vinson, spent less than two weeks in a specialized ward at Emory University Hospital before doctors said she was free of the virus, which has infected more than 10,000 people, mostly in West Africa, in an outbreak this year.


Ms. Vinson is one of four people to test positive for Ebola in the United States, although hospitals have treated others who got the virus while abroad.


“I am so grateful to be well, and first and foremost, I want to thank God,” Ms. Vinson said at a news conference on Tuesday at Emory, which since August has successfully treated three other patients with Ebola.


In recent weeks the Obama administration has struggled to present a unified approach to dealing with those who return to the United States from the Ebola hot spots. That issue was complicated over the weekend when the governors of New York and .0New Jersey called for quarantines that federal officials say are not medically necessary.


On Tuesday, White House officials tried to explain why the military guidelines outlined by General Odierno are different from those for civilian health workers. Soldiers in West Africa, who are not directly providing health care to patients in those countries, have far less contact with Ebola patients than do civilian nurses and doctors in those countries who will not face quarantines under the C.D.C. guidelines.


Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said it would be more efficient for the Army to simply isolate all of its returning soldiers rather than trying to assess which ones present greater risks for contracting Ebola.


“The men and women who are being deployed to West Africa are coming from military installations around the world,” Mr. Earnest said. “And so for the sake of efficiency, there’s an obvious benefit to restricting the movements of these individuals so that their health can be monitored consistent with scientific guidelines.”


Defense officials said that the large number of American military personnel deploying to West Africa — which could eventually reach 3,900 troops — coupled with anxiety among family members and the relative ease of isolating returning service members on bases were all factors that led to the decision to go further than the White House and the C.D.C. had recommended.


In his remarks, Mr. Obama defended the C.D.C. guidelines for civilians, saying they protect Americans at home while not unduly burdening health workers in Africa. He called the situation with members of the military different, in part because they are not going to Africa voluntarily.


“We don’t expect them to have similar rules, and by definition, they’re working under more circumscribed circumstances,” Mr. Obama said.



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