Thursday, October 30, 2014

State of Maine seeks Legal Powers to Force Nurse into Quarantine

Gov. Paul LePage said Wednesday that Ebola nurse Kaci Hickox was "unwilling" to follow state health guidelines and that he was seeking legal authority to force her to remain quarantined at a rural home in Maine for 21 days.
Hickox, who does not have any symptoms of the deadly virus, said Wednesday that she would not abide by quarantine rules that she said were "not scientifically nor constitutionally just."
"I don't plan on sticking to the guidelines," Hickox tells Today show's Matt Lauer via Skype. "I am not going to sit around and be bullied by politicians and forced to stay in my home when I am not a risk to the American public."
Hickox, a 33-year-old nurse with Doctors Without Borders, arrived in Maine on Monday after being forcibly held in an isolation tent in New Jersey for three days under that state's strict new law for health care workers who have recently treated Ebola patients in West Africa.
Two state police cars were stationed Wednesday outside the rural home of her boyfriend, Ted Wilbur, in Fort Kent where she has been living, WLBZ-TV reports.
Northern Maine Medical Center says Hickox had originally agreed to a 21-day quarantine, according to WLBZ. NMMC also said Wilbur had also agreed to a self-quarantine for 21 days and will be taking UMaine Fort Kent nursing classes online. There is no word on whether he would abide by quarantine for the full period.
Hickox, according to her attorney, had only agreed to remain home for two days after arriving from New Jersey.
LePage said Wednesday that Hickox had been "unwilling" to follow state protocols and that he will seek legal authority to enforce the quarantine.
Read the rest of the story HERE and view related videos below:





If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.


No comments:

Post a Comment