The governors of New York and New Jersey have ordered a mandatory 21-day quarantine for all health care workers and others who have come in contact with people who have the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, the New York Times reported today, and re-reported on WebMd.com.
The move comes a day after an American doctor was diagnosed with Ebola in New York. Craig Spencer, 33, an emergency medicine doctor at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, returned to the United Stateson Oct. 17. He treated Ebola patients in Guinea for Doctors Without Borders.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced the decision to impose quarantines Friday afternoon. Calls for this stringent measure have grown louder since Spencer was diagnosed.s monitoring himself for Ebola symptoms while traveling around New York City, in accordance with the guidelines of Doctors Without Borders. He reported a low-grade fever Thursday morning and was immediately hospitalized. Doctors Without Borders does not recommend a 21-day quarantine for international healthcare workers returning home from a stint of Ebola care in West Africa.
WebMd reported that the evening before Spencer's diagnosis, he took the subway several times and went bowling at The Gutter bowling alley before he took an Uber cab home. He also went to The High Line, a public park, and may have eaten at a restaurant, officials said.
The state health departments of New York and New Jersey will have the authority to hospitalize or quarantine travelers coming through John F. Kennedy International Airport or Newark Liberty International Airport.
Given that health care workers who treat people with Ebola are at such high risk for infection, some have questioned whether stronger measures should be used to keep them out of public spaces for 21 days after they've cared for an infected patient. Symptoms appear within that timeframe if someone catches the virus, the Times reported..