The White House on Wednesday insisted that the public should have faith in the federal government to limit the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, even as another case of the disease emerged on U.S. soil.
“People should continue to be confident” in the federal response effort, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, calling the government efforts “tenacious” despite multiple “shortcomings.”
Health officials on Wednesday announced that a second health worker who cared for Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan had contracted Ebola. And officials later acknowledged that the nurse flew from Cleveland to Dallas just a day before showing symptoms of the disease.
Still, the White House expressed confidence in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden and predicted that officials would prevent the type of widespread Ebola outbreak devastating West Africa.
As for regrets, Earnest mirrored Frieden’s admission that the CDC should have sent a team of health experts to Dallas earlier. But Obama’s top spokesman again resisted calls for a travel ban on passengers from West Africa or the appointment of an Ebola czar.
Obama canceled a planned campaign trip to New Jersey and Connecticut later Wednesday to hold a meeting on the Ebola threat with Cabinet members at the White House.
