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 Obama weighed in for the first time since states including New York
and New Jersey imposed automatic 21-day quarantines on doctors and
nurses returning from the three countries at the heart of the
outbreak - rules that go beyond federal guidelines.
"We don't want to discourage our healthcare workers from going to
the front lines and dealing with this in an effective way," Obama
told reporters at the White House South Lawn.
Obama said that these medical workers, often volunteers for
international humanitarian groups, should be "applauded, thanked and
supported."
"And we can make sure that when they come back, they are being
monitored in a prudent fashion. But we want to make sure that we
understand that they are doing God's work over there. And they're
doing that to keep us safe," Obama added.
Some states have imposed their own safeguards, including mandatory
quarantines for doctors and nurses returning from the three
countries at the center of the epidemic, saying federal policies do
not adequately protect the public. Some lawmakers, particularly
Republicans, have criticized the response by Obama's administration
as inept.
The president is likely to emphasize his support for traveling Ebola
medics in a speech set for Wednesday afternoon at a White House
event with doctors and nurses who are volunteering in West Africa.
Federal health officials and others have criticized stricter state
measures as potentially counterproductive, saying they could deter
American doctors and other healthcare professionals from
volunteering to help fight the epidemic at its source in West
Africa.
"We don't want to do things that aren't based on science and best
practices because if we do then we're just putting another barrier
on somebody who's already doing really important work on our
behalf," Obama said, noting that containing the outbreak in Africa
will make Americans safer from Ebola.
The first person quarantined under New Jersey's policy was Kaci
Hickox, a nurse who tested negative for the virus but was isolated
for days in a tent at a Newark hospital. She said her "basic human
rights" were violated.
In another sign of how Ebola fears have affected many communities, a
father sued a Connecticut school on Tuesday, saying his 7-year-old
daughter was discriminated against and banned from school based on
irrational fears of Ebola because she attended a wedding in Nigeria.
"We're hoping this will get her back into school as soon as
possible," the girl's mother, Ikeolapo Opayemi, said in a brief
interview with Reuters at their home.
DALLAS NURSE RELEASED
In Atlanta, nurse Amber Vinson, 29, was released from Emory
University Hospital after being declared virus-free last Friday.
Obama said he spoke with Vinson by telephone on Tuesday.
"I'm so grateful to be well," a smiling Vinson told reporters at
Emory University Hospital before hugging the doctors and nurses who
had treated her since Oct. 15.
"While this is a day for celebration and gratitude, I ask that we
not lose focus on the thousands of families who continue to labor
under the burden of this disease in West Africa," added Vinson,
looking fit.
The infections of the nurses in a Dallas hospital at the beginning
of October illustrated the initial lack of preparedness in the U.S.
public health system to safely deal with Ebola, which has killed
about 5,000 people in three impoverished West African countries -
Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - and raised fears of a wider
outbreak.
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The other nurse who worked at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in
Dallas, Nina Pham, 26, was declared virus-free on Friday, left the
Maryland hospital where she had been treated and met with Obama.
Vinson and Pham treated Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan, who had
traveled to Dallas in late September. He was the first patient
diagnosed with Ebola in the United States and he died on Oct. 8.
MILITARY WEIGHS QUARANTINE
With concerns mounting over the spread of the virus, the Pentagon
said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is considering a recommendation
from top military commanders for a "quarantine-like" 21-day
monitoring period for all U.S. troops returning from Ebola response
efforts in West Africa.
This follows an announcement on Monday by the Army that it has
started isolating soldiers returning from the West Africa mission at
their home base in Vicenza in northeastern Italy, even though they
showed no symptoms of infection and were not believed to have been
exposed to the virus. The question then became whether all the
branches of the military would do so.
Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said Hagel
has not made a final decision on the military-wide quarantine
recommendation, which would require a "regimented program of 21 days
of controlled, supervised monitoring." That step is far more strict
than guidelines recommended by civilian health authorities.
The U.S. military has repeatedly stressed that its personnel are not
interacting with Ebola patients and are instead building treatment
units to help health authorities battle the epidemic. Up to 4,000
U.S. troops may be deployed on the mission.
Obama said America's military was in a "different situation" than
healthcare workers. While civilians may be discouraged from
volunteering if they face quarantine on their return, troops were
sent as part of their mission and could expect such inconveniences.
Obama also sought to reassure Americans about the threat posed by
Ebola. He noted that only two people have contracted Ebola on
American soil: Vinson and Pham.
The lone patient now being treated for Ebola in the United States is
a New York doctor, Craig Spencer, 33, who was diagnosed on Thursday.
He had worked with the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders,
treating Ebola patients in Guinea.
"This disease can be contained," Obama said. "It will be defeated.
Progress is possible. But we're going to have to stay vigilant. And
we've got to make sure that we're working together."
(Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins, Doina Chiacu, Chris
Helgren, Roberta Rampton, Phil Stewart and David Alexander; Writing
by Will Dunham; Editing by Grant McCool, Jonathan Oatis and Lisa
Shumaker)
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