Florida Orders 21-Day Monitoring for Ebola
MIAMI, Florida — Oct 26, 2014, 2:44 PM ET
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ Associated Press
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is ordering twice daily monitoring for anyone
returning from places the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention designates as affected by Ebola.
Scott signed the order Saturday, giving the Florida Health Department
authority to monitor individuals for 21 days. Scott said in a press
release that his administration had asked the CDC to identify risk
levels of returning individuals from specific parts of Guinea, Liberia
and Sierra Leone, requesting information specifically about the risk
level for four people who had already returned. His office said that the
CDC had identified the four individuals who faced some risk but had not
provided the levels of risk.
"Therefore, we are moving quickly to require the four individuals who
have returned to Florida already - and anyone in the future who will
return to Florida from an Ebola area - to take part in twice daily
21-day health evaluations with DOH personnel," he said.
Florida joins New Jersey, New York and Illinois in ordering the 21-day monitoring program.
There are no direct flights to the United States from West Africa. It
was not immediately clear how many individuals returning from the
affected areas would end up in Florida.
Scott said the health department used the CDC's web-based system to identify the four individuals.
The CDC did not immediately respond to an Associated Press inquiry Sunday regarding Scott's announcement.
It released a general statement, explaining that it sets baseline
recommended standards, "but state and local officials have the
prerogative to tighten the regimen as they see fit," adding, "When it
comes to the federal standards set by the CDC, we will consider any
measures that we believe have the potential to make the American people
safer."
Scott said if the health department determines any of those monitored
are at a high risk of contracting the disease, the state will take
further action to protect those individuals and the rest of Florida with
a mandatory quarantine.
Scott spokesman Frank Gonzalez said county health workers would visit
those deemed at low risk and take their temperatures twice daily. He did
not immediately provide details as to how state officials would
implement mandatory quarantines.
Vague details of how such quarantines would be handled have sparked
criticism by infectious disease experts who say enforcement logistics
are up in the air. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gov-rick-scott-orders-21-day-monitoring-ebola-26463732 - http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gov-rick-scott-orders-21-day-monitoring-ebola-26463732
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