New Jersey Health Department confirmed there are about 100 residents placed under "active monitoring" for Ebola, even though they are asymptomatic of the virus. Meanwhile, Maine nurse Kaci Hickox, who defied a quarantine policy, continues to comply with direct active monitoring after court decision.
As said by Health Department's spokesperson Dawn Thomas, the New Jersey residents are not hospitalized and no one appears sick with Ebola. She also stressed that no one has been quarantined and they are not medical professionals.
"These are individuals who had no direct contact to Ebola patients. These are asymptomatic individuals," Thomas said through an email. "They are at home."
"They are low-risk individuals with no fever or symptoms and no exposure to Ebola or people with Ebola," another department spokesperson said. "They have traveled to an Ebola-impacted country."
The New Jersey residents were identified through screening at the five US airports that receive travelers from Ebola-stricken nations, including Newark International Airport and New York's JFK Airport. The North Jersey.com said the passengers are being screened after they have returned from West African nations namely: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Local health authorities are doing the actual Ebola monitoring that includes daily contact, in person or by phone. New Jersey officials provided no information about the identities of the patients. NJ.com reported the state also did not identify the communities in which the 100 actively monitored patients live.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie declared people returning from West African nations who had been exposed to Ebola victims would be placed under a 21-day mandatory quarantined, no matter how healthy they appeared. As per the Wall Street Journal, the generally popular policy has received criticisms globally from public health experts.
Meanwhile, Maine Nurse Kaci Hickox was the first medical professional subjected to the policy after returning from Ebola-hit Sierra Leone. She was placed in a mandatory quarantine against her will and was released from a New Jersey hospital Monday afternoon after a tense standoff with the state.
Kaci Hickox was supported by many public health experts in saying her rights were violated when she was under treatment in New Jersey. The nurse also explained that Ebola is not contagious unless one is symptomatic with the virus. However, the state governor was not willing to risk spreading the disease.
On Friday, a Maine judge rejected the Ebola quarantine for Hickox. According to CNN, District Court Chief Judge Charles LaVerdiere said the health officials failed to prove the need for a stricter order imposing Ebola isolation. The judge ordered the nurse to submit to a "direct active monitoring." He also directed Hickox to coordinate travel plans with public health authorities and promptly notify health officials if symptoms manifest. Reports said another hearing is set on Tuesday.
Standing outside her home in Maine, Hickox told reporters the court decision was a "good compromise" and she was pleased. She also added she'll continue to comply the direct active monitoring order.
"I know that Ebola is a scary disease. I have seen it face to face. I know we are nowhere near winning the battle," Hickox stated. "We'll only win this battle as we continue this discussion, as we gain a better collective understanding about Ebola and public health, as we overcome the fear and, most importantly, as we end the outbreak that is still ongoing in West Africa today."
Hickox's legal team attorneys Norman Siegel and Steve Hyman called the court decision a victory and "an indication of thoughtfulness versus irrationality."
While many people were acting out of fear that is not completely rational when it comes to the deadly Ebola epidemic, the judge stated the fear was present and real.
Maine officials wanted the nurse to stay at home until Nov. 10, the end of the 21-day incubation period for Ebola. Although she was tested negative and has shown no symptoms of the virus while under isolation in a New Jersey hospital.
To show that she could be out in public without interacting with people after the controversial Ebola policy, Hickox along with boyfriend Ted Wilbur went out on a bike ride Thursday. The couple was tailed by a police cruiser and reporters. Wilbur, the nurse's boyfriend said they are not trying to cause trouble but just want the neighborhood to feel at ease.
To date, no one is under a New Jersey- issued mandatory Ebola quarantine policy. However, the state reveals about a hundred people who have arrived from West Africa this week are considered low-risk and required to do self-monitoring.
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