The Center of Disease Control could learn a thing or two from our two protective, fast-acting governors of New Jersey and New York: Forced quarantine after exposure to Ebola will help stem the tide of this deadly disease.
Yesterday, only ours after putting a traveling doctor who was in contact with Ebola treating them in Liberia, was forced into a 21-day quarantine, the same woman started to show signs of the illness, and was rushed to a hospital in Newark at University Hospital.
Her original plans? To spend some time in New York City, possibly spreading the illness. For now, she has tested negative but will have to endure her 21-day quarantine period, so time will tell if she will get an "all clear".
Ebola is transmitted through an infected person's bodily fluids including sweat. Even dead infected victims are contagious.
Faced with two incidents of travelers who came home to the United States and did not go into “voluntary” quarantine for 21 days after coming into contact with people infected with the deadly Ebola virus, the governors of New York and New Jersey have decisively acted.
Both N.J. Governor Christie and N.Y. Governor Cuomo have partnered to put into place immediately more stringent rules when dealing with international travelers. Stating the ever-changing standards of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have not worked to keep residents safe. both governors joined forces to announce stringent rules that will put anyone with any contact with Ebola into a force isolation.
As of now, if you fly in from an infected area, or have had any contact with anyone with Ebola, you are going into a mandatory 21-day quarantine.
This decision may have already saved lives. Hours after this new rule was created in New York and New Jersey, at JFK Airport and Newark Airport, a woman who worked helping victims of Ebola in Liberia was automatically quarantined in Newark. She had traveled from the ravaged country and when checked, was determined to possibly be a danger since she had been helping people infected with Ebola.
Now? She is already showing symptoms of Ebola - and is in the hospital.
“I consider the guidelines by the CDC not rigourous enough this is a strengthening of those guidelines,” said Governor Cuomo.
As Governor Christie noted, these airports are a hub for many international travelers.
“We simply are not satisfied,” noted governor Christie. “I felt we had a a very aggressive view of legal authority of New Jersey to set standards for screening of who wants to enter New Jersey.”
Both governors said that since the CDC standards are constantly changing, they will not wait and now have acted, with this forceful new mandatory quarantine.
NJ and NY worked this week with thier health professionals to create a more rigourous guidelines.
This reaction comes as a result of afew failed “voluntary” isolation periods, one from an NBC news crew and one from a doctor in New York.?“Voluntary quarantine is an oxymoron,” noted Cuomo. “We’ve see what happened on a number of cases. In a region like this you go out one two or there times you ride the subway or bus you can infect hundreds of people. This is too serious to trust voluntary quarantine.”
A doctor at the New York press conference noted some of the information as follows:
The states of NY and NJ are issuing mandatory screening procedures at JFK and Newark.
Both the CDC and Border protection departments will cooperate on all screening on a real time basis with daily recaps as to the status of that day’s screenings in both New York and New Jersey.
JFK and Liberty Newark airport will make its own determinations now, and any individual in one of three African nations that had direct contact with Ebola stricken people or those in contact with effected are automatically quarantined.
All with travel history of travel to Ebola stricken African countries will be checked and quarantined.
This new system is already in effect as of yesterday
Updates with all official rules soon.
