File Photo of Kaci Hickox (Associated Press Photo)
New York:
A US judge ruled on Friday that a nurse quarantined by her home state after treating Ebola patients could leave home and frequent public places, saying she was not infectious.
The decision from a district judge in the northeastern state of Maine is the latest twist in a bitter row over enforced quarantine of American medics returning from relief work in West Africa.
It reversed a temporary order that prevented her from visiting cinemas and shopping centers, and demanded she keep three feet away from others while Judge Charles LaVadiere examined the case.
Kaci Hickox insists that she is perfectly healthy and has fought efforts of US authorities to keep her in quarantine for 21 days, the incubation period for the virus, since returning home.
Maine went to court to force her to stay at home in the town of Fort Kent. On Thursday, she went out for a bike ride with her boyfriend, tailed by TV cameras and the police.
"The state has not met its burden at this time to prove by clear and convincing evidence that limiting respondent's movements to the degree requested is 'necessary to protect other individuals,'" wrote LaVerdiere in the ruling.
He said that Hickox must continue with direct active monitoring,
coordinate her travel with public health authorities and notify them immediately if any symptom for the killer virus appears.
But the judge also told Hickox to "demonstrate her full understanding of human nature and the real fear" that exists over the deadly virus, which has so far infected nine Americans.
"She should guide herself accordingly," he wrote.
The White House and public health officials have criticized measures taken by some US states that quarantine medics returning from treating Ebola-infected patients in west Africa.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie kept Hickox in an isolation tent for three days after she flew back from Sierra Leone, before letting her go on Monday after she tested negative for Ebola.
She was driven to Maine, which imposed its own quarantine. Her incubation period would formally end November 10.
"They will not allow me to leave my house and have any interaction with the public, even though I am completely healthy and symptom-free," Hickox said on Wednesday.
The decision from a district judge in the northeastern state of Maine is the latest twist in a bitter row over enforced quarantine of American medics returning from relief work in West Africa.
It reversed a temporary order that prevented her from visiting cinemas and shopping centers, and demanded she keep three feet away from others while Judge Charles LaVadiere examined the case.
Kaci Hickox insists that she is perfectly healthy and has fought efforts of US authorities to keep her in quarantine for 21 days, the incubation period for the virus, since returning home.
Maine went to court to force her to stay at home in the town of Fort Kent. On Thursday, she went out for a bike ride with her boyfriend, tailed by TV cameras and the police.
"The state has not met its burden at this time to prove by clear and convincing evidence that limiting respondent's movements to the degree requested is 'necessary to protect other individuals,'" wrote LaVerdiere in the ruling.
He said that Hickox must continue with direct active monitoring,
coordinate her travel with public health authorities and notify them immediately if any symptom for the killer virus appears.
But the judge also told Hickox to "demonstrate her full understanding of human nature and the real fear" that exists over the deadly virus, which has so far infected nine Americans.
"She should guide herself accordingly," he wrote.
The White House and public health officials have criticized measures taken by some US states that quarantine medics returning from treating Ebola-infected patients in west Africa.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie kept Hickox in an isolation tent for three days after she flew back from Sierra Leone, before letting her go on Monday after she tested negative for Ebola.
She was driven to Maine, which imposed its own quarantine. Her incubation period would formally end November 10.
"They will not allow me to leave my house and have any interaction with the public, even though I am completely healthy and symptom-free," Hickox said on Wednesday.
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