Under Pressure, Cuomo Loosens Policy for Ebola Quarantines in New York
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo
on Sunday night outlined New York State’s mandatory quarantine policy
for health care workers returning from West African nations with Ebola
outbreaks , bringing the state closer into line with federal protocols
and marking a significant break with the way the policy has been carried
out in New Jersey.
The
announcement comes after the Obama administration pressed New York to
revise its order, issued only two days ago in a joint press conference
with New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie.
New Jersey officials, who stood by their decision on Sunday, have yet
to explain many details of their quarantine policy. The state has come
under scathing criticism for the treatment of a nurse returning from
Sierra Leone, who was forced into quarantine in a hastily erected tent
at a New Jersey hospital even though she had not displayed any signs of
illness and tested negative for Ebola.
Earlier
in the day, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the treatment of the nurse,
Kaci Hickox,had been shameful and vowed that New York City would do all
it could to honor the work of the health care workers here and those who
go to help fight the epidemic in West Africa.
“The
problem here is, this hero, coming back from the front having done the
right things, was treated with disrespect,” Mr. de Blasio said.
“We have to think how we treat the people who are doing this noble work,” he said. “We owe her better than that.”
Under
the revised guidelines, New York State would allow all returning health
care workers who have had contact with Ebola patients but have no
symptoms of illness to return to their homes, where they would be
confined; their health would be monitored for 21 days.
They
would be transported by private vehicle, arranged by the New York State
Department of Health or the local health department. While under
confinement, there would be at least two unannounced visits by local
officials, in coordination with state health officials, each day to
check the individual’s condition as well as ensure that the individual
is complying with the state order.
The New York State or local health department will, if needed, coordinate care services such as food and medicine.
If
a person arrives from one of the affected areas with no symptoms and
had no direct contact with anyone infected with the Ebola virus, there
will be no home confinement. Health officials will monitor these
individuals twice a day for temperature and other symptoms until the
21-day incubation period is over.
Governor
Cuomo, who asked for patience from those who will be affected, also
said the state would provide financial assistance where needed.
“If their organization does not pay for the three weeks, we will,” he said.
The
move comes as President Obama met with his top advisers at the White
House to craft a policy that reassures Americans that they are protected
from the virus while following the guidance of the government’s
scientific advisers. Officials said that policy will be ready in days
and that the government would urge all states to follow it.
The
rapidly escalating events played out both privately, in intense
negotiations and phone calls between federal and state officials, as
well as publicly in Ms. Hickox’s pointed criticism of the New Jersey
governor.
Ms. Hickox who has called her treatment “inhumane,” planned to mount a legal challenge to the quarantine order.
Ever
since Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, and Mr. Christie, a Republican, announced
the plan at a hastily called news conference on Friday evening, top
Obama administration officials have been speaking with Mr. Cuomo daily
and have also been in touch with Mr. Christie, trying to get them to
modify the order. But Mr. Christie said at a fund-raiser in Florida that
he had “gotten absolutely no contact” from the White House.
But
in that time, two more states — Illinois and Florida — announced that
they were instituting similar policies, as some members of the public
expressed outrage that the infected patient in New York City had used
the subway and gone bowling just before developing symptoms.
Federal
officials made it clear that they do not agree with the governors about
the need or effectiveness of a total quarantine for health care
workers, though they were careful not to directly criticize the
governors themselves.
A
senior administration official, who did not want to be identified in
order to discuss private conversations with state officials on the
issue, called the decision by the governors “uncoordinated, very
hurried, an immediate reaction to the New York City case that doesn’t
comport with science.”
Indeed,
Mr. Christie said he did not consult with the White House about the
decision. “I did not let them know,” he said in a brief interview in
Boca Raton, Fla., where he was campaigning for the state’s Republican
governor, Rick Scott.
The
United States is sending thousands of military personnel and other
federal workers to the West African countries hit hardest by the virus,
and a mandatory quarantine could make sending personnel to those
countries more difficult, officials said.
The decision to institute a mandatory quarantine came after a New York doctor, Craig Spencer,
received a diagnosis of Ebola on Thursday, having contracted the virus
while working in Guinea for Doctors Without Borders. He is being treated
at Bellevue Hospital Center,
where he is in serious but stable condition. “The patient looks better
than yesterday,” Dr. Ramanathan Raju, the president of the city’s Health
and Hospitals Corporation, said on Sunday.
The
decision for mandatory quarantines has not only opened a rift with
federal officials, but also between New York City and the state.
Having seen the disorganized way officials in Dallas implemented quarantine orders for people who came into contact with Thomas Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, New York City officials were determined to do better.
One
key part of their strategy was to ensure that they were able to meet
all the needs of those placed in isolation, making their time as
comfortable as possible.
The
plans called for monitors to be assigned to each quarantined family or
individual and dedicated solely to help them get meals, stay in contact
with loved ones and have a clear line of communication with officials.
On
Friday night, those carefully laid plans were thrown aside when Mr.
Christie and Mr. Cuomo called for the mandatory quarantine.
“The
entire city was not informed, even the mayor’s office,” according to a
city official involved in New York’s Ebola response. “The mayor was
caught unaware.”
“The
big picture decision was made in the absence of any deep thinking about
what implementing the policy would entail,” the official said.
As for Ms. Hickox, her plane happened to land precisely at the wrong moment.
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