XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: nocoon@diseases.com   
      
   The Obama administration said it can’t compel state and local   
   officials to follow federal guidelines in dealing with Ebola,   
   leading to a patchwork of responses on the return of health-care   
   workers from Africa.   
      
   White House press secretary Josh Earnest refused today to say   
   whether New York and New Jersey officials notified federal   
   authorities before mandating 21-day quarantines on doctors and   
   nurses who return after treating patients in the outbreak   
   region. He also declined to say whether President Barack Obama’s   
   new Ebola coordinator, Ron Klain, was involved in discussions   
   with state officials.   
      
   “States are given significant authority for governing their   
   constituents,” Earnest said. Even with new guidelines set to be   
   issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later   
   today, governors and mayors can still “exercise the authority   
   they have.”   
      
   Fear of Ebola’s spread in the U.S. has prompted sometimes   
   contradictory responses from state and federal officials as the   
   White House attempts to both assure the public and gear up a   
   national strategy to combat the disease. Obama has said it’s   
   most critical to contain the virus at its source in West Africa.   
      
   After an American doctor who treated patients in West Africa was   
   diagnosed last week with Ebola following his return to New York,   
   Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and   
   Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced that travelers from the   
   region would face 21 days in quarantine.   
      
   State Quarantine   
      
   Under criticism from the Obama administration and federal health   
   officials, Cuomo backtracked somewhat and said those travelers   
   could be quarantined at home. Christie defended the policy while   
   allowing a nurse who was quarantined after arriving at Newark   
   Airport to be released so she could travel to Maine.   
      
   Two other states with international airports where additional   
   health screenings are being done, Georgia and Virginia, haven’t   
   take similar steps. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said   
   quarantines of individuals will be ordered only if needed.   
   Georgia also is the host state for the CDC.   
      
   Christie, in Florida yesterday, said he doesn’t plan to rescind   
   the mandatory quarantine order.   
      
   “We need to protect the public safety of the folks in the most   
   densely populated area in the country, and that’s what we’re   
   going to do,” he said.   
      
   Earnest, while he refused to give any details about   
   administration talks with governors, indirectly criticized the   
   actions taken by New York and New Jersey.   
      
   Disincentive   
      
   The government wants to make sure that “whatever policies are   
   put in place do not serve as a disincentive to doctors and   
   nurses traveling to West Africa,” he said. The nurse who was   
   temporarily quarantined in New Jersey should be honored for her   
   service “and I don’t think we do that by making her live in a   
   tent.”   
      
   Earnest said there were no immediate plans for Klain to travel   
   to New York or New Jersey for discussions with the governors.   
   Klain will play a “behind-the-scenes” role in shaping the   
   broader government response.   
      
   “He will work closely with the CDC, HHS, other White House   
   officials,” Earnest said.   
      
   There also are no plans for a national quarantine policy,   
   Earnest said, even though U.S. Army personnel who have returned   
   to their base in Italy after working in Ebola-stricken countries   
   are being put in isolation.   
      
   Earnest said that there is no broad Pentagon policy for imposing   
   a quarantine on the military personnel working in Africa to   
   assist with logistics in the Ebola fight.   
      
   To contact the reporters on this story: Toluse Olorunnipa in   
   Washington at tolorunnipa@bloomberg.net; Angela Greiling Keane   
   in Washington at agreilingkea@bloomberg.net   
      
   To contact the editors responsible for this story: Steven   
   Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net Joe Sobczyk   
      
   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-27/white-house-says-states-   
   can-t-be-forced-to-follow-cdc.html   
      
        
      
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