Ebola Outbreak 2014 News Update: Maine Nurse Restricted By Court Order, American Ambassador to UN self-monitors
Maine health officials were able to obtain a 24-hour court order on Thursday restricting the movement of nurse Kaci Hickox after she resisted the state voluntary quarantine for medical workers exposed to Ebola patients.
Hickox is banned from public places and requires a three-foot buffer until the judge decides on what further action to take. Police are under orders to monitor her movements.
Hickox broke quarantine twice on Thursday by talking to reporters and going for a one-hour bike ride with her boyfriend.
"I'm not willing to stand here and let my civil rights be violated when it's not science-based," she told The Associated Press Wednesday evening.
Hickox flew into Newark International Airport last Friday and was quarantined under that state's mandatory quarantine when her temperature registered 101 on a forehead scanner. She has no temperature the next day and was released to Maine on Monday after her lawyer threatened legal action. She developed no further symptoms of the disease and objected to the quarantine. She had recently been treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone with Doctors Without Borders.
A number of states have passed mandatory quarantines of 21 days for anyone returning to the U.S. who has had close contact with Ebola patients. The states so far include Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and New York.
In international developments, the U.N. health agency is updating its guidelines for health workers dealing with Ebola patients, recommending doubling up on gloves and making sure the mouth, nose and eyes are better protected from contaminated droplets and fluids, reported The Associated Press.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. has just returned from visiting the African countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak. Samantha Power said she is self-monitoring and federal guidelines are sufficient. She has been openly critical of the quarantine restrictions in some U.S. states.
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