Obama on Ebola Fight: US Can't Seal Itself Off
Photo Credit: AP / Evan VucciBy Jim Kuhnhenn.
Pushing to confront Ebola at its West African source, President Barack Obama said Wednesday the United States was not immune to the disease but cautioned against discouraging American health care workers with restrictive measures that confine them upon their return from the afflicted region. “We can’t hermetically seal ourselves off,” he declared.
Obama said doctors and nurses from the United States who have volunteered to fight Ebola in West Africa are American heroes who must be treated with dignity and respect.
His remarks came amid debate between the federal government and several states over how returning health care workers should be monitored. The White House has pushed back against overly restrictive measures, including proposals for travel bans or isolation measures adopted by some states.
“Yes, we are likely to see a possible case elsewhere outside of these countries, and that’s true whether or not we adopt a travel ban, whether or not you adopt a quarantine,” Obama said from the White House, surrounded by health care workers who have volunteered or will volunteer to serve in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea, where the disease has killed nearly 5,000.
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Photo Credit: Reuters / Mike SegarEbola doctor ‘lied’ about NYC travels
By Jamie Schram and Bruce Golding.
The city’s first Ebola patient initially lied to authorities about his travels around the city following his return from treating disease victims in Africa, law-enforcement sources said.
Dr. Craig Spencer at first told officials that he isolated himself in his Harlem apartment — and didn’t admit he rode the subways, dined out and went bowling until cops looked at his MetroCard the sources said.
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