Governor Christie said Saturday his heart goes out to a nurse who complained about being quarantined in Newark after returning from West Africa, but his top priority is to protect the public health and safety of the people of New Jersey. <\/p>\n
The nurse, Kaci Hickox, landed at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and was taken to University Hospital in Newark with a temperature of 101. Hickox said officials barked questions at me as if I was a criminal and appeared to be disorganized. <\/p>\n
Related: Christie stands by mandatory quarantine for health care workers treating Ebola <\/p>\n
Hickox, who lives in Maine and worked for Doctors Without Borders, tested negative for the Ebola virus after she arrived at the hospital on Friday evening. <\/p>\n
Her complaints were aired inan essay published Saturday by the Dallas Morning News. I am scared about how health care workers will be treated at airports when they declare that they have been fighting Ebola in West Africa. I am scared that, like me, they will arrive and see a frenzy of disorganization, fear and, most frightening, quarantine, she wrote. <\/p>\n
Asked about the matter, Christie, who was campaigning for Republican candidates in Iowa, said, Im sorry if in any way she was inconvenienced. But the inconvenience that could occur from having folks who are symptomatic and ill out and amongst the public is a much, much greater concern of mine. <\/p>\n
Hickox had landed at Newark on the same day that Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced they were ratcheting up Ebola screening at Newark Liberty and Kennedy international airports. Instead of relying on people traveling from West Africa to monitor their own health on return, the governors said that public health workers in both states will do the monitoring, which will include house calls and more detailed interviews. Quarantines will be mandatory for people who had contact with Ebola patients. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced a similar quarantine on Saturday. <\/p>\n
New Jersey residents may be quarantined in their homes, and out-of-state residents, such as Hickox, will be kept in government-owned facilities for 21 days under the new rules put in place by Christie. <\/p>\n
Related:Quarantined health care worker who landed in Newark tests negative for Ebola <\/p>\n
Related:NJ, NY announce new Ebola quarantine policy <\/p>\n
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Health care worker who was isolated in Newark criticizes Ebola quarantine process<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Governor Christie said Saturday his heart goes out to a nurse who complained about being quarantined in Newark after returning from West Africa, but his top priority is to protect the public health and safety of the people of New Jersey. The nurse, Kaci Hickox, landed at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and was taken to University Hospital in Newark with a temperature of 101. Hickox said officials barked questions at me as if I was a criminal and appeared to be disorganized Continue reading