Ordering firm restrictions for U.S. troops returning from West Africa, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that the military men and women helping fight Ebola must undergo 21-day quarantines longer than required for many civilian health care workers.
In Maine, meanwhile, a civilian nurse was vigorously resisting the quarantine she was told to undergo. Kaci Hickox, who had treated Ebola patients in West Africa, said she planned to stop quarantining herself in her home, signalling a potential showdown on Thursday with state police monitoring her movements and Maine officials preparing to legally enforce the order.
President Barack Obama, meeting with health care workers at the White House, acknowledged that the United States was not invulnerable to the disease but cautioned against discouraging civilian volunteers with overly restrictive measures upon their return home. “We can’t hermetically seal ourselves off,” he declared.
