White House spokesperson Kush Desai denied that the administration didn’t want to accept Stafford and attacked the Post. “This is absolutely false and another reason why the Washington Post is no longer worth the paper it’s printed on,” Desai wrote in an email. He said the Trump administration’s top concern is ensuring the health and safety of citizens and praised the quality of the German hospital treating Stafford.
The US has multiple centers and hospital systems with specialized facilities capable of providing safe, high-quality care for Ebola patients.
In the press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Pillai repeatedly dodged questions about the US refusing to allow Ebola-exposed Americans to return home for treatment and care. He also failed to explain how Germany and the Czech Republic—not known for expertise in dealing with Ebola—were chosen for caring for the Americans, or if any other countries were asked to take them and refused.
At one point, when asked directly if the White House had made the decision to refuse Americans, Pillai responded: “Right now, what I would say is that the plans for these individuals that have moved were made based on the conditions on the ground, the need to rapidly mobilize—as you know, this was a very rapid set of circumstances that unfolded over the weekend. And so, what I can tell you right now: this is what the situation was and this is how we responded as quickly as we could.”
Travel restrictions
In addition to sending Americans elsewhere for care and monitoring, the US has introduced travel restrictions related to the Ebola outbreak. Americans arriving from DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan will undergo health screenings, while non-US passport holders who have traveled in those countries in the past 21 days will be barred from entry.
In a statement Tuesday, Africa CDC responded to the restrictions, saying its “position is clear: generalised travel restrictions and border closures are not the solution to outbreaks. Such measures can create fear, damage economies, discourage transparency, complicate humanitarian and health operations, and divert movement toward informal and unmonitored routes—potentially increasing public health risks rather than reducing them.”
Jean Kaseya, Africa’s CDC director general, added: “The fastest path to protecting all countries in the world is to aggressively support outbreak control at the source. Global health security cannot be achieved through borders alone. It is achieved through partnership, trust, science, and rapid investment in preparedness and response capacity.”