Kaci Hickox believes the battle she is waging is not just about Ebola. She is the nurse who returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa just last week and, upon landing in Newark, New Jersey, she was taken to a medical detention center to be quarantined. The scuffle began because Hickox reportedly had an elevated temperature when arriving at the airport, and so she was immediately quarantined in a tent. Eventually, Hickox was allowed to leave and returned to her Fort Kent, Maine, home, where she is locked in a battle over whether or not she is a threat to the general public. She has broken quarantine and is willing to go to court over the matter.
Hickox has been ordered to remain at home under quarantine until Nov. 10, but is refusing to follow those guidelines. Maine Gov. Paul LePage has had a state trooper post outside Hickox's door, but that did not prevent her from breaking quarantine last night to speak to the press.
"I am not going to sit around and be bullied by politicians and forced to stay in my home when I am not a risk to the American public. I will go to court to fight for my freedom," she said.
Maine's health commissioner, Mary Mayhew, is reportedly trying to negotiate with Hickox but is also preparing a case that will allow her to seek a court order to keep Hickox behind closed doors under quarantine for the suggested 21-day window.
Hickox has tested negative for the Ebola virus and insists she is perfectly healthy, so keeping her on lockdown is basically a violation of her human rights rather than an attempt to keep a deadly disease from potentially spreading.
While many believe there should be mandatory quarantine guidelines for health-care workers to follow upon return from afflicted countries, putting them solidly in place might affect the number of professionals who are willing to do this important work. If upon return they feel like they will be treated unfairly, that will certainly prove to be a deterrent in going overseas in the first place.
What are your thoughts on Hickox's case? Is she being extremely selfish or making some valid points that needs to be discussed?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
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