Ebola nurse Kaci Hickox ordered by judge to stay away from public

Quarantine Battle Continues for Maine Ebola Nurse

A JUDGE has ordered an American nurse who treated Ebola patients in Africa to stay away from public places and maintain a metre’s distance from others.

Kaci Hickox insists that she is perfectly healthy and has bitterly criticised efforts of US authorities to keep her in quarantine for 21 days, the incubation period for the virus, since returning home to Maine.
In a temporary order on Friday, district judge Charles LaVerdiere barred her from public places such as shopping centres and cinemas, and ordered her to maintain a one-metre distance from others when walking or jogging.
A final ruling was expected later on Friday.

Bike ride ... Nurse Kaci Hickox, right, and her boyfriend, Ted Wilbur ride bikes on a trail near her home in Fort Kent, Maine. Picture: AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty. Source: AP

The order comes after Hickox and her boyfriend left their home in the town of Fort Kent in the northeastern state on Thursday to go on a bike ride in the full glare of TV cameras.
Ms Hickox and boyfriend, Ted Wilbur, purposefully rode their bikes away from town on a dirt path to avoid coming into contact with people.
“We’re not trying to push any limits here. We’re members of this community, too, and we want to make people comfortable,” Mr Wilbur told reporters.
Judge LaVerdiere demanded that Hickox submit to direct, active monitoring, coordinate her travel with public health authorities and avoid commercial and public transport.

Quarantine ... Kaci Hickox in an isolation tent at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Picture: AP Photo/Steven Hyman. Source: AP

Ms Hickox, who returned to the US last week, had been under ‘a voluntary quarantine’ at her home in this town of 4300 people.
She has rebelled against the restrictions, saying that her rights are being violated and that she is no threat to others because she has no symptoms. She tested negative last weekend for Ebola, though it can take days for the virus to reach detectable levels.
The White House and public health officials have criticised measures taken by some US states that quarantine medics returning from treating Ebola-infected patients in west Africa.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie kept Hickox in an isolation tent for three days after she flew back from Sierra Leone, before letting her go on Monday after she tested negative for Ebola.

She’s not sick ... Ted Wilbur, the boyfriend of nurse Kaci Hickox, speaks to reporters outside their home in Fort Kent, Maine. Picture: AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty. Source: AP

She was driven to Maine, which imposed its own quarantine and sought the court order to keep her at home after she vowed to fight the regulations. Her incubation period is to end November 10.
“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,” Hickox said outside her home late Wednesday.
Reporters have camped out at her home on the Canadian border.
Mr Wilbur said he and Ms Hickox spent the day Thursday vacuuming, cleaning, doing laundry and watching a movie, The Avengers. He said he also spent four hours attending class via phone. He has agreed to stay away from the University of Maine at Fort Kent for the time being.
During their hourlong bike ride, they were followed by an unmarked state police cruiser. Later, they took delivery of a pizza.

Answering questions ... Kaci Hickox and boyfriend Ted Wilbur. Picture: AP Photo/Portland Press Herald, Whitney Hayward. Source: AP

States have broad authority under long-established law to quarantine people to prevent the spread of disease. In Maine, state law allows a judge to confine someone if health officials demonstrate “a clear and immediate public health threat.”
US President Barack Obama and humanitarian groups have warned that such measures could cripple the fight against the disease at its source by discouraging volunteers like Ms Hickox from going to West Africa, where the outbreak has sickened more than 13,000 people and killed nearly 5000 of them.