More restrictions, Same Level Of Intelligence - updated

MINNESOTA:

Medical Personnel potentially exposed to Ebola while treating patients in west Africa will be confined to their homes for 21 days when they return to Minnesota, state health officials announced Monday, as authorities across the nation continued grapple with appropriate safeguards against the deadly virus.

Gov. Mark Dayton, joined by experts including the Health Department’s chief attorney and a leading University of Minnesota bioethicist, said such restrictions might be burdensome, but they would give the state the best chance to keep Ebola from spreading if someone brings the virus into the state.

“My number one priority is to do whatever will best protect all Minnesotans from exposure to this disease,” Dayton said.

Restrictions would vary for other travelers returning from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — the three nations at the center of the Ebola outbreak — depending on their perceived risk levels, state officials explained. Those who simply traveled to those countries to visit relatives would be asked to submit to daily health monitoring when they return to the state. Health care providers who cared for Ebola patients but had no known exposure to the virus would not need home confinement. Health care providers with potential exposures, such as being stuck with a needle while caring for an Ebola patient, would be confined at home.                                            Minnesota has the added concern of a robust population of 30,000 residents from Liberia who might travel back to the country or host relatives from there. All travelers returning from the West African nations would be subject to travel restrictions. Those potentially exposed to Ebola during their travels would be banned from public transportation, while all travelers under monitoring would be asked to refrain from trips using public transportation lasting longer than three hours.

 Because apparently not being exposed, and travelling around for LESS than 3 hours is totally cool; like say, getting meatball sandwiches, or going bowling.
But hey, they're being "asked to refrain".
Maybe they could try that out for all other threats to the community, like robbers and such.
Jackasses!

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, requesting information specifically about the risk level for four people who had already returned. His office said that the CDC had identified the four individuals who faced some risk but had not provided the levels of risk.

"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.

Thus both states get to perform CYA, make it feel like they're "doing something", but without either actually pissing off Washington D.C. minions, or actually protecting the public.
Genius. These guys could trade Magic Beans for cows.

These beans are GUARANTEED to protect you from Ebola!

 

UPDATE:

Georgia says "Me six!":

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal is ramping up monitoring for all travelers coming to Georgia from Ebola-affected countries.
“We are taking every necessary precaution to ensure that Georgia stands prepared to manage the risks associated with Ebola,” Deal said.
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is one of five airports in the U.S. that is a designated point of entry for travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"I have developed, in coordination with my Ebola Response Team, a policy to more aggressively monitor travelers from affected countries, symptomatic or not, and quarantine if need be. We are taking these proactive steps to protect the health of the people of our state, and this new policy is an altogether effective and appropriate response at this time," Deal said.
Previous policy for West African travelers required checking for symptoms and isolating any symptomatic passengers. In accordance with Deal's plan, travelers who show no symptoms will be placed in one of three categories for further monitoring.

• Category 1, high risk – Travelers with known direct exposure to an Ebola patient. Travelers in this category will be subject to quarantine at a designated facility.
• Category 2, low risk – Travelers from affected area with no known exposure to an Ebola patient. Travelers in this category will sign a monitoring agreement with the Georgia Department of Public Health. This agreement requires travelers to conduct temperature and symptom self-checks twice per day and report results to Public Health once per day (electronic, email or phone contact acceptable). Travelers who fail to report during the 21-day incubation period will be contacted by Public Health and issued a mandatory quarantine order if necessary.
• Category 3 – Medical personnel actively involved in treating Ebola patients returning to the United States. Individuals in this category will be issued a 21-day active monitoring order and will be visually monitored (video communications or home visit) by Public Health twice per day. Public Health will assess for the development of symptoms and adjust restrictions as necessary. Noncompliance will result in quarantine at a state-designated facility.