New York – A stepped-up Ebola screening program that checks the temperature of travelers arriving from West Africa is starting at New York’s Kennedy International Airport.
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The effort to screen travelers from the three West African countries most affected by Ebola starts Saturday at Kennedy. Over the next week, the screenings will expand to Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O’Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.
Together, those airports receive more than 90 percent of passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea
Health workers at Kennedy will use no-touch thermometers to take the temperatures of travelers from those countries.
Those who have a fever will be interviewed to determine whether they may have had contact with someone infected with Ebola. There are quarantine areas that can be used if necessary.
Health officials expect false alarms from travelers who have fever from other illnesses.
Similar controls will be introduced next week at Newark, the other major international airport serving the New York area, and airports in Washington, Atlanta and Chicago.
Mayor Bill de Blasio chaired an “Ebola preparedness” meeting of city agencies on Thursday, comprising representatives from emergency services, hospitals and coroners to run through possible scenarios.
“There has not been a case in New York City,” de Blasio said. “There is no cause for alarm.”
If any individual did display symptoms of the disease, de Blasio said, authorities in the biggest city in the US have “a clear protocol for how to handle the situation.”
“The city is particularly well prepared for any possible instance of Ebola because of our extraordinary health care system,” de Blasio said.
“Physicians, hospitals, emergency medical personnel are trained in how to identify this disease and how to quickly isolate anyone who may be afflicted.”
– ‘We believe we are set’ –
New York City Hall’s website now offers information and advice on Ebola to New Yorkers as well as to universities, schools, nurseries and health professionals.
Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital has been designated as a facility to treat patients.
Officials say the hospital, which is equipped with isolation wards and protective clothing for workers, is ready to deal with cases if required.
“We are doing as well as we possibly can and we believe we are set,” said Ross Wilson, a spokesman for the Health and Hospitals Corporation, which oversees New York hospitals.
To test the readiness of 11 public hospitals around New York, bogus “patients” complaining of Ebola symptoms such as fever fanned out across the city to see if staff were dealing with potential cases properly.
Switchboard operators for 911 emergency calls had also been trained to ask questions aimed at identifying potential Ebola cases.
It follows an outcry after Texas patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who died on Wednesday, was initially sent home from hospital after complaining of Ebola-like symptoms.
Wilson said the exercises and simulations under way for the past three weeks should reduce the chances of a similar error occurring in New York.
idiots, they have to screen people before boarding a plane to the U.S. Not when they have been sitting on a plane for hours .I this good thinking?