White House
spokesman says president is seeking to reassure public about medical protocols
in place to combat disease
Obama gives a hug to Dallas nurse Nina Pham in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday. Photograph: Pool/Getty Images |
Barack
Obama sought to reassure Americans over the risks of Ebola transmission on
Friday by way of a hug in the Oval Office with Nina Pham, the Dallas nurse who
had been declared free of the virus only hours earlier.
White House
officials said their invitation to Pham had been made to celebrate her full
recovery from the illness at a National Institutes of Health facility in nearby
Bethesda.
“This an
opportunity for the president to thank her for her service,” said spokesman
Josh Earnest. “This is someone who displayed the kind of selfless service to
her fellow man that is worthy of some praise.”
But he
acknowledged the photo opportunity – just hours after fourth US case was
confirmed in New York – was also a way to demonstrate the president’s
confidence in medical protocols amid growing political criticism of the
administration’s handling of the crisis.
“I think
this also should be a pretty apt reminder that we do have the best medical
infrastructure in the world, and certainly a medical infrastructure that’s in
place to protect the American public and the track record of treating Ebola
patients in this country is very strong, particularly for those who are quickly
diagnosed,” said Earnest.
Pham
received five tests to make sure she was clear of the illness before an earlier
press conference with doctors at the NIH, but no additional screening
procedures were in place at the White House.
Earnest
also said reports of normal subway traffic in New York this morning were an
indication that “people of New York, as they should, feel confident about their
safety”.
But earlier
Republicans called for tighter protocols to prevent at-risk healthcare workers
from travelling to public places during the disease’s incubation period and
claimed public confidence had been dented.
“What you
have got in place failed,” Florida congressman John Mica told health officials
at a hearing of the House oversight committee. “You need a quarantine in place
for people coming out of these countries.”
Representative
Michael Turner of Ohio, where hundreds of people are being monitored for
possible exposure to Ebola from another Dallas nurse, said: “The American public
are concerned that people who have been exposed are having too much contact
with the public.”
People
involved in treating Ebola in Africa warned that excessive travel restrictions
would backfire if they deterred medical volunteers.
“We can’t
recruit staff if there is a risk they won’t be able to come back home,” said
Rabih Torbay of the charity International Medical Corps.
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