NEW YORK—Four days after the first Ebola outbreak in New York, a dispute has emerged over how to deal with travelers from the three affected West African countries.
The governors, Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie, have ordered a mandatory quarantine for those arriving from the three countries who had contact with people infected with the deadly disease. Those who don’t show symptoms will be quarantined at home.
The new measure is meant to prevent outbreaks like those seen in Texas.
Cuomo said that in voluntary quarantine, people would want to slip out for pizza or a date and could potentially infect others at that point.
The governors named the quarantine of a nurse returning from Sierra Leone as the first example of their new policy. The nurse, Kaci Hickox, retorted Sunday that the way officials dealt with her made her feel “like a criminal” and she had been given little information about what was going on.
The White House has spoken up against the mandatory quarantine and in defense of doctors and other medical professionals traveling to West Africa to help stop the Ebola epidemic.
A senior Obama administration official said the policy could undermine efforts to stop Ebola by discouraging medical workers from traveling to West Africa. The official wasn’t authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity.
Although Cuomo didn’t consult the city on his quarantine policy, Mayor Bill de Blasio excused the decision, saying that sometimes in crisis situations, there would be disconnects.
“There'll be moments where people have to catch up with each other and connect and get to a point of unity,” he said at a Sunday press conference in Bellevue Hospital Center where Dr. Craig Spencer is being treated.
While he supported the policy, de Blasio also blasted the officials who handled nurse Hickox’s case in New Jersey.
“This hero...was treated with disrespect,” said de Blasio, adding that New York was working with flexible federal and state policies. “A returning hero should not be treated that way. We owe her better than that.”
Cuomo responded to the White House’s critiques by smoothing out the details of his quarantine policy at an impromtu 8 p.m. press conference Sunday.
While it’s still mandatory that they stay at home, those quarantined can now have family and friends visit. Their employers will give them paid sick leave, supplemented by the state, covering rent, mortgage, and a daily allowance.
Medical personnel will make unannounced visits twice a day to make sure the quarantined are staying put and to check on their condition.
Too Close to Home
New Yorkers were equally divided over the quarantine issue.
In Washington Heights, only blocks away from where Spencer quarantined himself in his apartment, Gregory Rincones, 48, an electrician who commutes to work in the neighborhood, spoke up in favor of mandatory quarantines.
“Fix things here in America, and then we can worry about Africa,” he said, mentioning that he was concerned about the safety of his family.
Further along the street, Anthony Teasley, 28, who works in a supermarket and lives just a block away from 147th Street, said that while Ebola had struck too close for comfort, it was just another scare that would pass.
“They shouldn’t quarantine people like that, though,” said Teasley, who was in favor of voluntary quarantine. “It'll take 21 days for them to be able to leave.”
Marcos Mota, 53, who came to New York from Miami, said that initially everyone in the neighborhood got scared when they heard about Spencer coming down with Ebola.
“But now everyone’s calming down. They go into the supermarket, keep shopping, no problem,” said Mota. “It’s only one person. If it was like five, then that’s different. But it’s only one person.”
Media producer Lillian Gilden who lives on the Upper East Side said, “If Spencer didn’t spit on bowling balls, I’m not going to worry about it.”
Epoch Times Staff Petr Svab and Jonathan Zhou, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
