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| Obama: ‘We can’t give in to hysteria or fear’ of Ebola | Obama: ‘We can’t give in to hysteria or fear’ of Ebola |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| President Obama on Saturday sought to tamp down fears of an Ebola outbreak and defend his administration from Republican critics who have called for a more aggressive response to the disease, including sealing off U.S. borders to visitors from countries battling widespread outbreaks. | President Obama on Saturday sought to tamp down fears of an Ebola outbreak and defend his administration from Republican critics who have called for a more aggressive response to the disease, including sealing off U.S. borders to visitors from countries battling widespread outbreaks. |
| “We can’t just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging,” Obama said in his weekly radio address. “Trying to seal off an entire region of the world — if that were even possible — could actually make the situation worse.” | “We can’t just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging,” Obama said in his weekly radio address. “Trying to seal off an entire region of the world — if that were even possible — could actually make the situation worse.” |
| Such actions would make it harder for American health-care workers, soldiers and supplies to reach stricken areas, Obama said. It could also cause residents of countries in West Africa where Ebola is still spreading to try to evade screening on their way to the United States or Europe. | Such actions would make it harder for American health-care workers, soldiers and supplies to reach stricken areas, Obama said. It could also cause residents of countries in West Africa where Ebola is still spreading to try to evade screening on their way to the United States or Europe. |
| The president’s main message was one of calm, coming at a time of growing worry in communities throughout the country. “We can’t give in to hysteria or fear, because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need,” Obama said. “If we’re guided by science — the facts, not fear — then I am absolutely confident we can prevent a serious outbreak here in the United States.” | The president’s main message was one of calm, coming at a time of growing worry in communities throughout the country. “We can’t give in to hysteria or fear, because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need,” Obama said. “If we’re guided by science — the facts, not fear — then I am absolutely confident we can prevent a serious outbreak here in the United States.” |
| As Ebola fears have spread, some urgent-care clinics have taken steps to identify red flags, such as recent travel to West Africa, before patients ever set foot in the clinic. AFC/Doctors Express, a national chain of more than 130 urgent-care clinics, with facilities in Alexandria, Va., Woodbridge, Va., Edgewater, Md., and Towson, Md., fields some of its patient calls through a national call center that’s designed to screen symptoms before patients show up to see a doctor. On Friday, the call center developed a new Ebola fact sheet and script to ask patients about their travel history, said Dr. Glenn Harnett, the chief medical officer for AFC/Doctors Express. | As Ebola fears have spread, some urgent-care clinics have taken steps to identify red flags, such as recent travel to West Africa, before patients ever set foot in the clinic. AFC/Doctors Express, a national chain of more than 130 urgent-care clinics, with facilities in Alexandria, Va., Woodbridge, Va., Edgewater, Md., and Towson, Md., fields some of its patient calls through a national call center that’s designed to screen symptoms before patients show up to see a doctor. On Friday, the call center developed a new Ebola fact sheet and script to ask patients about their travel history, said Dr. Glenn Harnett, the chief medical officer for AFC/Doctors Express. |
| Posters on the clinics’ front doors and signs in its waiting rooms ask patients to notify personnel if they’ve recently traveled to West Africa. Over the past four days, Harnett estimated that his clinics had seen about eight to 10 “false alarms.” Patients may have concerning symptoms such as fever and vomiting, but Ebola was ruled out because they had not traveled to any affected areas. | Posters on the clinics’ front doors and signs in its waiting rooms ask patients to notify personnel if they’ve recently traveled to West Africa. Over the past four days, Harnett estimated that his clinics had seen about eight to 10 “false alarms.” Patients may have concerning symptoms such as fever and vomiting, but Ebola was ruled out because they had not traveled to any affected areas. |
| More often, the clinics have seen cases of irrational fear. Some patients have requested Ebola tests even though they aren’t ill, Harnett said. He told the story of one patient who had recently traveled to Mobile, Ala., and requested that he be screened for Ebola, despite having no symptoms nor any interaction with someone who was sick. The patient had grown concerned because of Mobile’s position as a port city and felt that he might be vulnerable to exposure. | More often, the clinics have seen cases of irrational fear. Some patients have requested Ebola tests even though they aren’t ill, Harnett said. He told the story of one patient who had recently traveled to Mobile, Ala., and requested that he be screened for Ebola, despite having no symptoms nor any interaction with someone who was sick. The patient had grown concerned because of Mobile’s position as a port city and felt that he might be vulnerable to exposure. |
| “We’d probably have lines down the street if we had an Ebola vaccine, but so many more Americans will die of influenza,” Harnett said. “I find that somewhat frustrating as a clinician, but people are people, and they’re going to have the fears that they have.” | “We’d probably have lines down the street if we had an Ebola vaccine, but so many more Americans will die of influenza,” Harnett said. “I find that somewhat frustrating as a clinician, but people are people, and they’re going to have the fears that they have.” |
| Some of those fears have even reached the White House, where a petition calling for the FAA to ban flights to and from Ebola-stricken regions had more than 45,000 signatures by Saturday evening. In the heat of election season, politicians have begun weighing in on the issue. And average citizens have swarmed social media to share stories of local hysteria. At the Pentagon, workers donned hazmat suits to clean up after someone got sick in the bathroom. | |
| In the Washington area, Dr. Howard J. Bennett, a pediatrician and author, said he was asked by one concerned patient about the chances of contracting Ebola by using a bathroom at a mall where someone with the disease had visited. Bennett said he reassured the patient that it was safe. | In the Washington area, Dr. Howard J. Bennett, a pediatrician and author, said he was asked by one concerned patient about the chances of contracting Ebola by using a bathroom at a mall where someone with the disease had visited. Bennett said he reassured the patient that it was safe. |
| Obama on Saturday stressed that an outbreak of the disease in the United States was, at best, a remote possibility. He noted that Ebola is much harder to contract than the flu and could only be spread through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is showing symptoms of the disease. He also emphasized that U.S. health-care officials had established protocols to fight the disease and prevent its spread. | Obama on Saturday stressed that an outbreak of the disease in the United States was, at best, a remote possibility. He noted that Ebola is much harder to contract than the flu and could only be spread through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is showing symptoms of the disease. He also emphasized that U.S. health-care officials had established protocols to fight the disease and prevent its spread. |
| Yet in Dallas, two nurses contracted the deadly virus from a Liberian man who later died of the disease. One of those nurses, Nina Pham, was being treated at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington where she was in fair condition and “resting comfortably,” a spokesman said. | Yet in Dallas, two nurses contracted the deadly virus from a Liberian man who later died of the disease. One of those nurses, Nina Pham, was being treated at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington where she was in fair condition and “resting comfortably,” a spokesman said. |
| Spencer Hsu contributed to this report. | Spencer Hsu contributed to this report. |