A nurse who worked for Doctors without Borders in Sierra Leone returned to the United States only to find herself feeling like a "criminal and prisoner" as the airport imposed a strict 21-day quarantine in an effort to prevent further Ebola cases in the country.
Thirty-three-year-old Kaci Hickox flew from Sierra Leone where she worked as a nurse for Doctors without Borders and arrived in Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday, October 24. After declaring that she came from the West African country, she was immediately placed under quarantine per the new guidelines issued by the state's governor, which says that those who traveled from Ebola-stricken nations will be quarantined for 21 days, the supposed length of the virus's incubation, whether they have shown symptoms or not.
According to her personal account, which was then published in Dallas Morning News, Kaci was held in an isolation unit in the airport for over 5 hours and left alone for long periods. When she mentioned that she was hungry, she was given only a granola bar.
Later in the evening, she was brought to the hospital because of an elevated temperature. High fever is one of the earliest and common symptoms of the infection. Her Ebola test came back negative.
According to Kaci, her temperature registered 101 degrees, the threshold, when the airport used a forehead scanner, which can register temperature without touching the person's skin. However, she attributed it for her discomfort and anxiety after she was isolated in the airport for many hours without proper explanation.
Based on the essay, she felt as if she was treated like a criminal or a prisoner and called the quarantine process frightening. She also mentioned about the frenzy and disorganization, perhaps referring to how the authorities were imposing the quarantine policies. She feared that other health workers who may come from West Africa will receive the same treatment as soon as they arrive in the airport.
