Updated 03:02 AM EDT, Fri, Mar 29, 2024

Ebola Outbreak 2014 News Update, Watchlist & Death Toll: Quarantine Order Forced on Nurse Kaci Hickox? State to Seek Court Order

  • Staff
  • Oct 29, 2014 11:09 PM EDT
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Kaci Hickox, the 33-year-old nurse-epidemiologist first quarantined under New Jersey's mandatory order, was allowed to go home under one condition: continue the 21-day quarantine period.

Apparently, nurse Kaci refused to do so. She stepped out of her Maine abode on Wednesday.

According to Wall Street Journal, nurse Kaci claimed that she had no symptoms of Ebola. Landing at the Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday, she was held in an isolation tent at the University Hospital in Newark. She arrived from Sierra Leone, one of Africa's Ebola-stricken countries.

Nurse Kaci expressed her situation via NBC News saying, "They will not allow me to leave my house and have any interaction with the public, even though I am completely healthy and symptom-free."

State officials are seeking court order to enforce the quarantine period, which is set to end on Nov. 10. They are worried that public health may be put at risk.

Nurse Kaci is knowledgeable about Ebola -- she worked under Doctors Without Borders, fighting the epidemic. She confirmed defying the state, "I'm not willing to stand here and let my civil rights be violated when it's not science-based."

Time reported that Kaci is ready to defend her rights, asking her state to grant her freedom until Thursday.

Yet Maine health commissioner Mary Mayhew stands firm. "When it is made clear by an individual in this risk category that they do not intend to voluntarily stay at home for the remaining 21 days, we will immediate see a court order," Mayhew said.

Support for nurse Kaci are coming from all sides, including lawyer Norman Siegel who specializes in civil rights. The American Nurses Association (ANA), one of the country's biggest organizations composed of professional nurses, also reportedly supports her, noted WSJ.

Nurse Kaci clarified that she is not against Ebola's guidelines but the health officials' lack of scientific basis upsets her. She said via Today: "I saw complete disorganization. I saw no leadership, and if you're going to put a policy like that in place, that impedes on my civil rights, then you need to have the administrative details worked out before you start detaining me in an airport for no reason."

She also expressed her desire to return and fight the rampant virus in Africa. According to her, to be given the chance to combat the deadly disease in Sierra Leone was a privilege.

Deutsche Welle said that based on the World Health Organization's count, the death toll is at 4,922 late Wednesday. These casualties are among 13,703 cases worldwide, said CBC News. Liberia's outbreak is reportedly slowing down, adds the outlet.

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