WASHINGTON — Ordering firm restrictions for U.S. troops returning from West Africa, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that the military men and women helping fight Ebola must undergo 21-day quarantines — longer than required for many civilian health care workers.
In Maine, meanwhile, a civilian nurse was vigorously resisting the quarantine she was told to undergo. Kaci Hickox, who had treated Ebola patients in West Africa, said she planned to stop quarantining herself in her home, signaling a potential showdown today with state police monitoring her movements and Maine officials preparing to legally enforce the order.
President Barack Obama, meeting with health care workers at the White House, acknowledged the United States was not invulnerable to the disease but cautioned against discouraging civilian volunteers with overly restrictive measures upon their return home. “We can’t hermetically seal ourselves off,” he declared.
There seemed to be good news from the region of most severe outbreaks. The World Health Organization said the rate of new Ebola infections in Liberia appeared to be declining, although it cautioned the epidemic there was far from over.
Nearly 5,000 people have died and more than 13,700 have been sickened in the outbreak, which has hit Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone hardest. More than 6,300 of those are in Liberia alone. The U.S. military has nearly 1,000 troops in Liberia and just over 100 in Senegal supporting efforts to combat the virus. The total could grow to 3,900 under current plans, although none are intended to be in contact with Ebola patients.
Announcing his decision in Washington, Hagel said, “This is also a policy that was discussed in great detail by the communities, by the families of our military men and women, and they very much wanted a safety valve on this.”
The action goes beyond precautions recommended by the Obama administration for civilians, although Obama has made clear he feels the military’s situation is different.