Three Governors and the US Army Got It Right - Quarantine Those Returning from West Africa Ebola Areas

If you think President Obama's ISIS policy is vague -- try his Ebola policy, which is rapidly causing dissension as it forces states to act. ~~~~~ The New York Times reported today that New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, "facing fierce resistance from the White House and medical experts to a strict new mandatory quarantine policy...said on Sunday night that medical workers who had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa but did not show symptoms of the disease would be allowed to remain at home and would receive compensation for lost income." The controversial quarantine policy was adopted Friday for healthcare workers returning from Ebola-stricken nations, but lasted only until Sunday when it was revised to comply more with CDC guidelines. Cuomo said New York would help alleviate burdens posed by the 21-day home quarantine for health-care workers returning from West Africa, adding that persons losing pay because of the quarantine will be compensated and state officials will talk to employers if necessary. People who had no direct contact with Ebola patients, and who arrive with no symptoms, will not face home quarantine.Cuomo announced the changes at a news conference late Sunday with New York City Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio. “My personal preference is to err on the side of caution,” Cuomo said, saying he and de Blasio will call on New York medical experts to encourage hospital staff to volunteer for Ebola work in West Africa. “I understand that some people believe the 21-day home quarantine is a burden. I would ask for their cooperation and understanding and remember what we are trying to balance.” ~~~~~ New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie and Cuomo had agreed to and announced their quarantine orders Friday after aid worker Craig Spencer was diagnosed with the virus earlier in the week and it was learned he had been to a bowling alley, used the NYC subway and visited a restaurant. Spencer is now being treated in isolation at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital Center. But New York’s quarantine process has now split away from New Jersey's, also severely criticized after the weekend retention of nurse Kaci Hickox, who had no Ebola symptoms when she returned from Sierra Leone after working with Doctors Without Borders. Hickox has been held in isolation at a site attached to a New Jersey hospital. Christie said on Fox News Sunday : “I don’t believe when you’re dealing with something as serious as this that we can count on a voluntary system. The government’s job is to protect [the] safety and health of our citizens. And so we’ve taken this action, and I absolutely have no second thoughts about it.” The Governors of Illinois and Florida followed New York and New Jersey with stronger mandates to monitor returning airline passengers who have been in contact with Ebola patients in West African nations. The measures go beyond federal guidelines and the advice of infectious-disease experts. ~~~~~ The New York changes come after a top federal health official and medical experts earlier Sunday sharply criticized New York and New Jersey’s mandatory quarantines, saying they could hamper the overall efforts to combat the deadly virus at its African epicenters. Already hundreds of volunteers have deployed and hundreds more American healthcare workers, military service members and humanitarian workers are expected to join them in coming weeks, as the United States takes a leading role in fighting Ebola in West Africa while also trying to ease growing fears about the potential spread of the disease in America. An unnamed Obama administration said Sunday : “We have let the Governors of New York, New Jersey and other states know that we have concerns with the unintended consequences...policies not grounded in science may have on efforts to combat Ebola at its source in West Africa.” On several Sunday news talk shows, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, strongly objected to the quarantine policies. He said sending American volunteers to countries such as Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is vital to efforts to contain the virus there, warning that : “The best way to protect us is to stop the epidemic in Africa, and we need those healthcare workers, so we do not want to put them in a position where it makes it very, very uncomfortable for them to even volunteer to go,” recommending voluntary monitoring, not isolation, for returning healthcare workers, stressing that Ebola cannot be spread unless symptoms appear. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the White House says it will announce new guidelines for returning healthcare workers to help prevent imported cases of Ebola, while also encouraging volunteers to serve in Africa, adding that it would consult with states on new federal policies. On Sunday, President Obama's top health and security advisers were with him, including Secretary of State John F. Kerry, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who advised the President on considerations for new measures for returning healthcare workers. But, Obama apparently forgot to consilt with Defense Secretary Hagel -- because today the Army decided that troops returning from deployments to Liberia should be quarantined so they can be monitored for possible exposure to the Ebola virus. General Darryl Williams was among the first people affected, since he was one of up to a dozen soldiers who returned to their home base in Italy from Liberia and were isolated for monitoring. So, while the White House emphasizes its humanitarian effort and federal epidemiologists at the CDC and NIH continue their litany -- that Ebola can be spread only through contact with bodily fluids and only once symptoms appear -- the military has sided with three Governors taking the only sane position. Quarantine anyone returning from West Africa who has had possible contact with active Ebola virus for the 21-day incubation period. The US military continues to be the only arm of the federal government we can trust and believe in.