The White House said Monday it is considering adding new layers of airport screening in order to fend off the kind of Ebola outbreak that has gripped parts of Africa.
In a meeting with national security and health advisors on Monday afternoon, President Obama also called for greater international assistance in fighting the virus and said he’ll speak with foreign leaders to “make sure that they are doing everything that they can” to contain the outbreak.
While the administration continues to avoid travel bans to and from affected countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, the administration now is weighing more airport screening to limit the possibility of Ebola-stricken passengers spreading the virus to Americans. The screening reportedly would apply to travelers from affected countries.
“The key here is just to make sure that each step along the way — whether it’s a hospital admissions desk, whether it is the doctors, the nurses, public health officials — that everybody has the right information. If they have the right information and they’re following those protocols, then this is something that we’re going to be able to make sure does not have the kind of impact here in the United States that a lot of people are worried about,” Mr. Obama said after the meeting. “We’re also going to be working on protocols to do additional passenger screening, both at the source and here in the United States. All of these things make me confident that here in the United States, at least, the chances of an outbreak, of an epidemic here are extraordinarily low.”
Mr. Obama did not elaborate on further details of exactly what the screening would entail.
The only person in America who has contracted Ebola, Thomas Eric Duncan, remains in critical condition in a Dallas-area hospital. He traveled to the U.S. from Liberia, where it’s believed he caught the virus.
Fears were heightened Monday after a nurse in Spain reportedly caught Ebola, making her the first person to catch the virus outside of West Africa.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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