The agency issued revised guidelines to monitor and restrict the movements of people returning to the U.S. from Ebola-stricken countries. “We believe these are based on science,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said. “These add a strong level of protection.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) introduced revised guidelines on Monday for monitoring people returning to the U.S. who have been exposed to Ebola.
A passenger arriving from Sierra Leone at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.
Handout / Reuters
The revised guidelines, effective Monday, go beyond the "enhanced screenings" at airports which began early October. The CDC said the new measures were intended to guide state and local health officials with decisions about managing and actively monitoring the movement of individuals returning from the Ebola-affected West African countries.
In a press briefing, CDC director Tom Frieden said the agency identified four risk categories of individuals returning from Ebola-affected countries: high risk, some risk, low risk, and no identified risk. The guidelines recommend "stricter actions" for those with an escalating level of risk and advise health authorities to actively monitor people instead of a quarantine.
Voluntary home isolation is recommended for high-risk, asymptomatic individuals. High-risk and some-risk individuals will also undergo "direct active monitoring" for 21 days during which local health authorities will monitor them for temperatures and symptoms on a daily basis. Their planned activities for the day will also be reviewed, Frieden said.
Based on individual assessments, authorities could restrict them from using public transportation, boarding commercial flights, attending public gatherings, and attending work. Travel would be coordinated and approved by public health officials.
Frieden said the CDC was working closely to enforce the new guidelines with the six states where around 70% of travelers enter the U.S. — New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia.
"We believe these are based on science," CDC Director Tom Frieden said. "These add a strong level of protection."
The CDC does not have regulatory control over states in domestic health emergencies.
The CDC's revised guidelines were announced amidst mounting criticism of New York and New Jersey's new mandatory 21-day quarantine measures for travelers returning from Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
Kaci Hickox, a nurse who arrived in New Jersey on Oct. 24 after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, speaks to her lawyer Norman Siegel from a hospital quarantine tent in Newark, New Jersey, on Oct. 26.
Handout / Reuters
The new measures, introduced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Gov. Chris Christie on Friday, exceeded federal guidelines and the Doctors Without Borders protocol for their health care workers returning from West Africa.
Carlo Allegri / Reuters
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/ZVQS36
No comments:
Post a Comment