President Obama on Wednesday said the U.S. needs to monitor the Ebola virus in a “much more aggressive way,” after meeting with Cabinet officials to discuss new ways to limit the spread of the deadly disease.
Obama scrapped planned campaign events in Connecticut and New Jersey on Wednesday following the second Ebola diagnosis of a healthcare worker in Dallas who treated Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan.
Obama has repeatedly attempted to downplay the Ebola threat to Americans, but his remarks on Wednesday represented his most dire warning about the dangers of a disease that has killed thousands of people in West Africa in recent months.
“We want a rapid response team, a swat team essentially from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], to be on the ground as quickly as possible,” Obama said of measures being implemented to respond to future Ebola cases.
Earlier Wednesday, health officials announced that the second nurse who contracted Ebola flew from Cleveland to Dallas just a day before showing Ebola symptoms. She is now being transported to Emory University in Atlanta for treatment.
CDC officials conceded that the woman should not have gotten on the passenger flight and have since instructed those treating Ebola patients to avoid all non-controlled travel.
Still, Obama attempted to assuage public fears about a widespread outbreak of Ebola in the U.S. He said he hugged, kissed and shook hands with those treating the virus as well as Ebola survivors.
“These protocols work,” he insisted. “We know that because they’ve been used for decades now.”
