New York and New Jersey have implemented mandatory quarantine for people returning from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea who had direct contact with anyone infected with the Ebola virus, including people who were providing medical services to Ebola patients in those countries, the governors of the two states announced yesterday.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced the mandatory quarantine and additional screening protocols for Ebola at JFK And Newark Liberty international airports at a joint press conference in lower Manhattan late yesterday afternoon.
The moves come after a NYC physician returning from treating Ebola patients in Guinea was diagnosed with Ebola Thursday. Craig Spencer, 33, completed his work on Oct. 12, flew out of the country on Oct. 14, traveling via Europe, and arrived in New York on Oct. 17, according to the N.Y. Times.
Spencer called Doctors Without Borders, the organization he’d been working with, on Thursday, Oct. 23 to report he had a fever of 100.3, according to health officials. (Initial reports that his fever was 103 were erroneous, officials said.) Spencer reportedly told authorities he had begun “feeling sluggish” on Tuesday, but exhibited no known symptoms of infection with the the deadly virus. On Wednesday evening, he traveled by subway from his home in Harlem to a bowling alley in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and returned via car service, according to NYC health officials. Spencer is quarantined at Bellevue Hospital, where he is listed in stable condition, according to a hospital statement.
A second health care worker, a woman who has not been identified by name, returned Friday from treating patients in West Africa and developed a fever Friday evening, the N.J. health department announced last night. She was put in isolation at University Hospital in Newark.
Going forward, New York and New Jersey state health department staff will have real-time access to on-the-ground screening at JFK and Newark airports going forward, the governors said.
Each state health department will make its own determination as to hospitalization, quarantine, and other public health interventions for up to 21 days for individuals returning from any of the three West Africa countries.
Additionally, all individuals with travel history to the affected regions of West Africa, with no direct contact with an infected person, will be actively monitored by public health officials and, if necessary, quarantined, depending on the facts and circumstances of their particular situation.
Two people in Suffolk County are currently being monitored daily by county health department staff because they had recently arrived from one of the three Ebola-affected countries in West Africa, Suffolk Health Commissioner James Tomarken announced last night.
“These individuals were evaluated by Centers for Disease Control personnel at John F. Kennedy International Airport at the time of arrival, displayed no symptoms and were allowed to proceed to their home,” Tomarken said in a written statement. “Following protocols of the CDC and the New York State Department of Health, SCDHS employees will be conducting daily monitoring of those individuals for the 21-day Ebola incubation period,” Tomarken said.
The superintendent of the East Moriches school district yesterday sent a letter to parents advising them that “relatives of a school employee” returned Thursday from one of the three affected countries in West Africa.
Superintendent Charles Russo said in the letter he had spoken with Tomarken directly and learned that the employee’s relatives are not displaying any known symptoms of the disease and the employee “currently poses no risk.” The health department is conducting daily monitoring of the employee’s relatives, Russo wrote. If circumstances with the employee’s family members change, he said, the health department will notify the school district immediately.
Russo cautioned parents that “misinformation and fear spread more easily than this disease.”
There are currently no reports of any individual in Suffolk County who has displayed any symptoms of Ebola, according to the county health commissioner.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Customs Border Patrol will provide information to New York and New Jersey’s respective state health departments on all screening on a real-time basis and provide a daily recap as to the status of that day’s screening and CDC determinations. State health officials will notify local health officials of any travelers returning from the affected countries so they can be monitored for the incubation period.
“The steps New York and New Jersey are taking today will strengthen our safeguards to protect our residents against this disease and help ensure those that may be infected by Ebola are treated with the highest precautions,” Cuomo said.
“This is an evolving situation but one that tests the ability of government to perform and as we have done in the past when facing similar challenges, we will do whatever is needed to put the health and safety of the people first,” Cuomo said.
“I have been clear that we will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the public health of the people of New Jersey which is exactly what these joint efforts with Governor Cuomo will do with additional screening and heightened standards for quarantine,” Christie said. “By demanding these enhance measures, we are ensuring that any suspected cases are identified quickly and effectively, and that proper safeguards are executed.”
Cuomo also announced the launch of a new state information line to answer public health questions from New Yorkers about Ebola. The info line is free and trained operators are available to answer the public’s questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The number of the info line is 1-800-861-2280.
Lisa Finn contributed reporting.
