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MIAMI, Florida (AP) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott is ordering twice daily monitoring for anyone returning from places the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates as affected by Ebola.
Scott signed the order Saturday, giving the Florida Health Department authority to monitor individuals for 21 days. Scott said in a press release that his administration had asked the CDC to identify risk levels of returning individuals from specific parts of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - and had asked specifically about for four people who had already returned - but that the CDC had not provided the information.
'Therefore, we are moving quickly to require the four individuals who have returned to Florida already - and anyone in the future who will return to Florida from an Ebola area - to take part in twice daily 21-day health evaluations with DOH personnel,' he said.
Scott said the health department did use the CDC's web-based system to identify the four individuals.
The CDC did not immediately respond to an Associated Press inquiry Sunday regarding Scott's complaint.
It released a more general statement, explaining that it sets baseline recommended standards, 'but state and local officials have the prerogative to tighten the regimen as they see fit,' adding, 'When it comes to the federal standards set by the CDC, we will consider any measures that we believe have the potential to make the American people safer.'
Scott said if the health department determines any of those monitored are at a high risk of contracting the disease, the state will take further action to protect those individuals and the rest of Florida, including a mandatory quarantine. His office did not immediately answer AP requests for how the monitoring and quarantine would be administered.
Florida joins New Jersey, New York and Illinois in ordering the 21-day monitoring program.
Posted by Unknown on Sunday, October 26, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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