Woman quarantined at University Hospital in Newark tests negitive for Ebola

The asymptomatic health care worker quarantined at University Hospital in Newark for the possibility of Ebola has tested negative in a preliminary test, authorities said early this morning. Her detention has come under scrutiny by the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has expressed "serious constitutional concerns about the state abusing its powers.". Saturday, October, 25, 2014 (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

TRENTON — The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding that Gov. Chris Christie provide more information to the public about how the state came to the conclusion that mandatory quarantine of healthcare workers was medically necessary, saying it has "serious constitutional concerns about the state abusing its powers."



The civil liberties group's demand came after a nurse who had been under quarantine after arriving at Newark International Airport on Friday tested negative for Ebola on Saturday. Currently, the nurse, Kaci Hickox, remains in New Jersey state custody over her objections, published in the Dallas Morning News and the objections of the international aid organization, Doctors Without Borders, for whom she'd worked in Sierra Leone.



"Ebola is a public health issue and the government's response should be driven by science and facts and not by fear. We must treat our medical workers who put their lives at risk, and are the only ones who can contain this epidemic, with compassion and not like criminals. Coercive measures like mandatory quarantine of people exhibiting no symptoms of Ebola and when not medically necessary raise serious constitutional concerns about the state abusing its powers," said Udi Ofer, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the ACLU.



"By forcibly detaining people we are also frightening the public and may deter genuinely sick people who fear quarantine from seeking the treatments they deserve, while also discouraging caregivers and first responders from helping sick patients who need their assistance," said Ofer, adding, "This is a challenging time for New Jersey, but decisions must be made based on sound medicine, and not on fear. Governor Christie must provide more information to the public about how the state came to the conclusion that mandatory quarantine of our healthcare workers was medically necessary."



Hickox was quarantined on Friday, shortly after another Doctors Without Borders volunteer working in Guinea, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital employee Dr. Craig Spencer, tested positive for Ebola six days after returning to the U.S., on Thursday.



A day later, on Friday, Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a joint news conference to announce they had abandoned Centers for Disease Control standards and have implemented their own, far-stricter protocols on arriving passengers who had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa, forcing travelers, like Hickox, who may not have symptoms of Ebola into a mandatory 21 day quarantine even after they have tested negative for the disease.



"We are no longer relying on CDC standards. We will ensure that New York and New Jersey standards are met," Christie said at the Friday news conference.

Cuomo agreed, and called the notion of voluntary quarantine "almost an oxymoron."



The ACLU statement did not say whether it would legally challenge whether New Jersey has the legal authority to detain and quarantine travelers who have no symptoms or who've tested negative for disease. A spokeswoman for the group had no comment Saturday night.

In response to an emailed inquiry from a New Jersey Advance Media reporter on Oct. 17 about whether the New Jersey Department of Health thought it had the legal authority to do additional more aggressive Ebola screening beyond those measures already being taken by the federal government, department spokeswoman Donna Leusner replied in an email that "The New Jersey Department of Health and local health agencies have statutory authority to maintain and enforce proper and sufficient quarantine within their respective jurisdictions. The Department is working closely with federal, state and local authorities, including the Office of the Attorney General, to ensure that screening protocols and quarantine continue to be handled in a medically appropriate and legal manner."



New Jersey state law gives the Department of Health the power to "maintain and enforce proper and sufficient quarantine wherever deemed necessary," and it also states that is "has the power to remove any person infected with a communicable disease to a suitable place, if in its judgment removal is necessary and can be accomplished without any undue risk to the person infected."

The health department noted the quarantined nurse “had no symptoms upon arrival at Newark Liberty International Airport” and has since tested negative for Ebola.

Doctors Without Borders has strongly criticized the mandatory quarantine of aysmptomatic healthcare workers as unnecessary because Ebola isn’t contagious until symptoms begin, and even then it would require close contact with bodily fluids. The Nobel-prize winning aid group also objects to the mandatory quarantine because it could provide a chilling effect on the flow of U.S. medical volunteers whose medical expertise is desperately needed to fight the virus at its source in West Africa.

Last week, when asked if New Jersey had the legal authority to take extra measures, Christie said he would "take whatever steps are necessary to protect the public health of the people of New Jersey, and if someone wants to sue me over it, they can."

Christie defended the state's new tack on Saturday while campaigning for Republican candidates in Iowa, once again saying he was taking measures to "protect the public health and safety of the people of New Jersey."

“And so I’m sorry if in anyway she was inconvenienced, but the inconvenience that could occur from having folks who are symptomatic and ill out and amongst the public is a much, much greater concern of mine,” he said. “This is a difficult situation to deal with and my heart goes out to her because she’s someone who’s been trying to help others.”

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @claudebrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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