Several US states break with CDC and enact stricter Ebola guidelines
New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia and Florida have each issued policies for travellers at risk of Ebola infection in the past week
Lauren Gambino in New York
TheGuardian.com
Tuesday 28 October 2014
Since the diagnosis of Craig Spencer with Ebola in New York last week, states around the US have introduced a flurry of new policies on how to monitor those returning from west Africa’s most affected countries.
That’s resulted in a patchwork of rules for those flying into the US from the Ebola-ravaged west African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published new guidelines on Monday. But with ambitious governors mindful of public fear over Ebola, some states have enacted tighter restrictions.
At a press conference, the governors of New York and New Jersey on Friday declared a mandatory quarantine for anyone arriving from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea who had had contact with an Ebola sufferer. Just as the policy was introduced, a nurse, Kaci Hickox, landed at Newark airport in New Jersey. She ended up in isolation in a New Jersey hospital despite testing negative for Ebola, and published a scathing letter in the Dallas Morning News about her treatment on Saturday.
The efficacy of such a mandatory quarantine was criticised by the White House, the UN, public health experts, aid groups and civil liberties advocates.
Questions still remain over the specifics of the Ebola quarantine policy. The governors under pressure appeared to soften their stances on the hastily drafted policy in the days since it was introduced, even though both say they have not.
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