WASHINGTON, October 29 (RIA Novosti) – US Department of Defense is discussing the restrictions over the US minitary forces, who have been deployed in West Africa amid Ebola virus outbreak, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
“The policy that is evidently under consideration [by US Department of Defense ] is one that would restrict the movements of service personnel that had been working in West Africa… we are talking about thousands of military service members, who have been or will be deployed in West Africa,” Earnest said Tuesday at a press briefing.
The press secretary added, that it will be easier to effectively monitor health of US military members, if their movements are restricted to certain locations while deployed abroad, Earnest stressed. US military personnel will continue to receive a paycheck while the movement restrictions are in effect.
On Monday, US army leadership placed Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams and his team from US Army Africa under a “quarantine-like” program, according to US State Department news release.
Also on Monday, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia, the states with 70 percent of air travelers from Ebola-affected countries announced 21-day monitoring for people coming from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Two days earlier, New York, New Jersey and Illinois imposed a controversial 21-day mandatory quarantine for medical workers returning from West Africa.
According to the recent World Health Organization estimates, 4,922 people have died from the current Ebola outbreak that started in Guinea in December 2013, an overall number of cases has amounted to 10,141.
