President Obama spoke today from the White House lawn. Prior to his statement he had spoken with the USAID DART group which has been in Africa since August dealing with the Ebola crisis.
He said that we need to support those who have gone to West Africa to help in the battle with Ebola because what they do there may well help us limit the spread of Ebola in the US. He also stressed, much as CDC, WHO and MSF officials have, that we need to deal with the epidemic by using science and evidence-based medicine, and not by acting through fear.
More below the contorting shepherd's crook virus.
"The truth is we're going top have to stay vigilant at home until we stop the epidemic at its source," Obama said. "What's also critically important is making sure that all the talent, skill, compassion, dedication and experience of our folks here can be deployed to help those countries deal with this outbreak at the source."
Interestingly, while he fought against the quarantine in the case of Kaci Hickox, he supports a quarantine of sorts for US service members returning fro West Africa. The logic behind this is unclear, at best.
Obama also defended the military's decision to institute stronger monitoring and isolation measures for returning soldiers than the Centers for Disease Control have recommended for doctors and nurses. The military was ordered to the region, whereas the medical response relies largely on volunteers.
"We don't expect to have similar rules for our military as we do for civilians," he said. "They are already, by definition if they're in the military, under more circumscribed conditions."
Unless they served as health care workers and took care of Ebola patients, they should be at even lower risk to contract Ebola than Hickox. They shouldn't need quarantine at all. It will be interesting to see what others say about that policy.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/...
http://www.usatoday.com/...