Feds forego mandatory quarantines in new Ebola rules, but states get final say

Feds forego mandatory quarantines in new Ebola rules, but states get final say
(Image credit: Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

With states enacting a hodgepodge of rules for people potentially exposed to Ebola, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stepped in Monday with new guidelines. Unlike New Jersey, New York, and a handful of other states, the CDC recommendations don't include mandatory quarantines for health workers and others returning from Ebola-stricken areas in West Africa.

The CDC can't enforce its guidelines, and states can continue to write their own quarantine rules. But the federal government advises that returning medics and other travelers with no symptoms but deemed "high risk" — they were jabbed with a needle while treating Ebola patients, for example — face travel restrictions and be asked to stay home and avoid public places for 21 days. Most people returning from West Africa will just be directly, actively monitored for 21 days.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.