Oct. 27--New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Monday that a nurse who was quarantined in Newark after returning from treating Ebola-afflicted people in West Africa would be released and allowed to go home after she tested negative.
Christie's move followed a barrage of criticism from civil rights groups, aid agencies and White House officials, who said the quarantine measures announced Friday would discourage much-needed medical personnel from going to fight the Ebola outbreak in Africa.
Nurse Kaci Hickox complained that she was put in an unheated tent on the grounds of Newark University Hospital after returning from Sierra Leone on Friday. She tested negative for Ebola, which has a 21-day incubation period.
In a statement Monday from New Jersey's department of health, officials said Hickox "has thankfully been symptom free for the past 24 hours."
"As a result, and after being evaluated in coordination with the CDC and the treating clinicians at University Hospital, the patient is being discharged," the statement said. "After consulting with her, she has requested transport to Maine, and that transport will be arranged via a private carrier not via mass transit or commercial aircraft."
"She will remain subject to New Jersey's mandatory quarantine order while in New Jersey," it said. "Health officials in Maine have been notified of her arrangements and will make a determination under their own laws on her treatment when she arrives."
Christie's decision followed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's clarification of his state's mandatory quarantine rules during a Sunday night news conference. Cuomo and Christie became the nation's first two governors to declare mandatory 21-day quarantines for healthcare workers returning from the Ebola-stricken region, and for others who have had contact with Ebola patients.
Illinois has since imposed similar quarantine rules.
The virus has killed more than 4,900 people in West Africa.
On Sunday, Cuomo, seeking to tamp down criticism of the rules, said people subject to quarantine would be allowed to remain at home for the 21-day period. They would receive twice-daily visits from public health workers to check them for illness and ensure they do not go out, he said.
Three people currently are in quarantine in New York. All are close contacts of Dr. Craig Spencer, who contracted Ebola while treating patients in Guinea. He has been hospitalized in New York City since Thursday.
