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Quarantined Nurse discharged, Christie's office an |
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Jen147
Moderator Joined: March 23 2013 Status: Offline Points: 17144 |
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Posted: October 27 2014 at 6:59am |
Quarantined woman to be discharged, Christie's office announces
October 27, 2014
Washington (CNN) -- After a heated weekend of sparring between a quarantined nurse and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the nurse is being discharged, the state's Department of Health said in a statement Monday morning. A battle of words broke out Sunday between Kaci Hickox, who returned home from Ebola-ravaged West Africa only to be ordered into quarantine, and the governor, with the nurse telling CNN that her "basic human rights have been violated" and that Christie himself was responsible. Hickox has will be transported by name by a private carrier, "not via mass transit or commercial aircraft," read the statement, which was blasted out by Christie's office. "She will remain subject to New Jersey's mandatory quarantine order while in New Jersey," the statement continues. "Health officials in Maine have been notified of her arrangements and will make a determination under their own laws on her treatment when she arrives." Hickox was the first medical professional to be quarantined in New Jersey immediately upon returning to the United States from West Africa, where she had worked in treating Ebola patients. She lashed out at Christie during the weekend for giving her a diagnosis of sorts as "obviously ill." "First of all, I don't think he's a doctor; secondly, he's never laid eyes on me; and thirdly, I've been asymptomatic since I've been here," Hickox told CNN's Candy Crowley in a phone interview Sunday. "There always needs to be a balance, because I also want to be treated with compassion and humanity," Hickox said on CNN's "State of the Union" by phone from her hospital isolation. "I don't feel like I have been treated that way in the past three days." In an off-camera interview with CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, Hickox added, "I am not, as he said 'obviously ill.' I am completely healthy and with no symptoms. And if he knew anything about Ebola he would know that asymptomatic people are not infectious." Hickox also slammed Christie and other officials for trying to make public health decisions without any professional medical expertise. "It is not a sound public health decision and well-thought out," Hickox said. "Many of the experts in the field have come out to agree with me. So I think that we need to stress the fact that we don't need politicians to make these kinds of decisions. We need public health experts to make these decisions." The White House seemed to agree with Hickox's sentiment that Christie doesn't have the medical authority to impose regulations that trump federal guidelines on handling Ebola patients. A senior administration official told CNN Sunday that the White House informed Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo -- who also ordered quarantine for people returning to his state from West Afrida -- along with other state officials that it "has concerns with the unintended consequences of policies that are not grounded in science may have on efforts to combat Ebola at its source in West Africa." At a press conference Saturday, Christie said he was "sorry if in any way she (Hickox) was inconvenienced, but inconvenience that could occur from having folks that are symptomatic and ill out amongst the public is a much, much greater concern of mine." He added, "I hope she recovers quickly." Cuomo elaborated on the New York position on Sunday, saying while the 21-day quarantine would remain mandatory for those coming in from Ebola regions after contact with infected persons, those who are symptom-free themselves will be taken to their homes, to wait out the quarantine period there. Health of those persons will be monitored by twice-a-day checks. "It's a home quarantine but it is a mandatory quarantine," Cuomo said. Those coming from affected areas but having had no contact with infected people "will be monitored on a less rigorous basis." And Cuomo added that if employers don't pay quarantined workers for the time they are absent while under quarantine, "the government will." Meanwhile, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio -- with an Ebola-infected doctor undergoing treatment in his city -- took the New Jersey nurse's side Sunday. At a news conference, de Blasio commented briefly on Hickox's case, saying that "what happened to her was inappropriate." "This hero was treated with disrespect and was not given a clear direction," he said. "We owe her better than that, and all the people who do this work, better than that." Christie's office put out its own statement Sunday night, saying the state was not changing its quarantine protocol. The statement added, "The protocol is clear that a New Jersey resident with no symptoms, but who has come into contact with someone with Ebola, such as a health care provider, would be subject to a mandatory quarantine order and quarantined at home. Non-residents would be transported to their homes if feasible and, if not, quarantined in New Jersey." Neither governor explained how a home quarantine would work if family members were also in the home, or how a home quarantine would or could be enforced if the quarantined person chose to leave the house. For Hickox, after being tested for a fever using a forehead thermometer, it was determined at Newark airport on Friday that she had a fever, and thus was subject to the mandatory health care worker quarantine. But Hickox said the result was "an instrument error." "They were using a forehead scanner, and I was distressed and a little bit upset and so my cheeks were flushed," Hickox explained to CNN's Crowley. "And I believe that there is some evidence that machine is not very accurate in these kinds of situations. So when I arrived in the isolation unit they took my temperature orally and it was normal," said Hickox, who also said that her temperature continued to remain normal following the oral test. Christie, along with New York's Cuomo and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, said that the mandated quarantine is intended to protect public health, citing evidence that health care workers traveling from West Africa pose the greatest Ebola threat to their constituencies. Quarantine measures were instituted by the officials in response to a returned health care worker who tested positive for the virus last week, after having been out and about in New York City public spaces. That volunteer -- Dr. Craig Spencer -- was in serious but stable condition at a New York hospital on Sunday. Christie -- who embraces his reputation as a straight-talker -- candidly defended his decision to impose the mandatory quarantine for health care workers, saying he had "no second thoughts." "I believe that folks who want to take that step and are willing to volunteer also understand that it's in their interest and the public health interest to have a 21-day (quarantine) period thereafter if they've been directly exposed to people with the virus," Christie said on Fox News Sunday. "I don't believe when you're dealing with something as serious as this that we can count on a voluntary system," he said. "This is government's job. If anything else, the government's job is to protect safety and health of our citizens." Obama met Sunday with his Ebola response team, and a White House statement afterward appeared to refer to the quarantine issue. In the meeting Obama "underscored that the steps we take must be guided by the best medical science, as informed by our most knowledgeable public health experts," the statement said. "He also emphasized that these measures must recognize that health care workers are an indispensable element of our effort to lead the international community to contain and ultimately end this outbreak at its source, and should be crafted so as not to unnecessarily discourage those workers from serving," the statement added. That echoed remarks by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, who appeared on Sunday TV news talk shows arguing that imposing mandatory quarantines could have "unintended consequences." On "State of the Union" Fauci told Crowley that putting "everyone in the same category" would result in "people not wanting to go over there (to West Africa)." "You want to continue to make the safety of the American public paramount but it is critically important that you do that based on scientific evidence and data," he added. And U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power spoke in the direction. "We need to find a way when they (health care workers) come home that they are treated like conquering heroes and not stigmatized for the tremendous work that they've done, " Power said in an interview with NBC News before she left to visit Ebola-affected nations. |
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Germ Nerdier
Valued Member Joined: September 20 2014 Status: Offline Points: 3380 |
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I got two thirds of the way through that and had to stop reading. It was making me I'll.
I take back what I said in another thread about the airport worker needing sensitivity training. It's becoming clear the personality shortfall was all on Hickox. Grade A Bidch milking her 15 minutes. |
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Jen147
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You got that right. With lots of ties to the CDC. She scrubbed her LinkIn account of all her CDC ties today.
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Satori
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I've gotta side with the nurse on this one so what if she has "attitude" if you get treated badly and you stand up for yourself you have "attitude" ??? God forbid anybody defy the authorities cause' we all know what a great job they have done so far and if your ever a patient in a hospital you better hope your nurse has "attitude" I won't go into some of the things I've seen over the years |
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nc_girl
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she has a right to complain about her treatment but she also needs to take a step back and realize that there is a reason for the quarantine too.
The fault lies on both sides of the fence on this one. |
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pheasant
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Common sense needs to prevail, She was treating Ebola patients, she is a medical professional, she understands the nature and danger of this disease, and she knows the risks. There is nothing wrong with a 21 day quarantine.
Considering the fact that her fellow HCW, came back and was diagnosed with Ebola after not showing symptoms upon arrival opened up another risk factor, she falls squarely into that same risk factor. While it is true her case may not have been handled in the best manner, she needs to comply with local health authority's and not have "attitude". |
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The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself......FDR
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EdwinSm,
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At the same time politicians should not publicly announce that people are ill, as also happened in this case (especially if they have not seen the person). Governors are not doctors. |
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Jen147
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Some idiot probably got their butt chewed for that misinformation. He was obviously told that by someone & it makes him look like the idiot. These guys just show up & look pretty they don't know anything. I'm sure he was briefed 10 minutes before he stepped in front of that microphone & whoever gave him the bad info should be in trouble.
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Kay
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Our troops are ordered to help and are quarantined, the health professional goes by chose and demands special treatment. I guess our troops aren't that important compared to them.
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Satori
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the difference is when you go into the military you become a piece of property civilians dont have to put up with that crap and that nurse wasn't demanding special treatment she was asserting her rights |
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Kay
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Whatever I guess it's a matter of opinion. I think she should show a little consideration for others by making sure she wasn't infected.
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O.K. She brought her attitude into this country. Did anyone check her luggage? Did she bring in some freeze dried fruit bats along with her attitude? |
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Satori
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Ebola in Spain: They treated us as scum—Teresa Romero's husband http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2014/10/ebola-in-spain-they-treated-us-as-scum-teresa-romeros-husband.html hmmm seems this Spanish health care worker has an "attitude" also she should know her place the nerve of her to speak out about her shabby treatment the authorities know best |
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Kay
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Kaci have a dog that got put down?
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Kay
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Looks like Maine has to deal with the nurse.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/nurse-kaci-hickox-doesnt-intend-obey-maine-ebola-quarantine-re
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