Physicians and nurses returning from treating Ebola patients in three West African nations where the virus has run amok must now follow new guidelines set to be issued late Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
The Hill reports.
Whether the guidelines will apply to state and local governments is unclear, but the White House pushed back Monday in noting that it remains opposed to any mandatory quarantine like the ones imposed by New York and New Jersey, which call for 21 days of sequestration amid fears of the virus spreading, The Hill noted.
"We want to make sure that whatever policies are put in place in this country to protect the American public do not serve as a disincentive to doctors and nurses from this country volunteering to travel to West Africa to treat Ebola patients," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, according to The Hill.
"These individuals are heroes, and their commitment to their common man and to their country is one that should be respected," Earnest said. "And we believe that we can both show them the respect that they have earned while also ensuring that we have protocols in place to protect the American people."
A New Jersey nurse who was quarantined there and who spoke out against the way she was treated, was set for release Monday,
Fox News reported. She had threatened to sue state health authorities, noting she was treated "like a criminal." She had tested negative.
The CDC and the White House have come under fire for incompetence in their handling of the Ebola crisis,
The Washington Post noted.
"The wound is entirely self-inflicted," said Marc Thiessen in an editorial published by the Post Monday.
"From the start, the president has treated Ebola like a public relations crisis rather than a health crisis — offering Americans multiple assurances that turned out to be false," he wrote.
"The Ebola crisis is sapping the last vestiges of trust in the basic competence of this administration. … From the Islamic State to Ebola, the world appears to be spinning out of control — and Americans sense that their president is completely out of his depth."
Related stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.