Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has bucked the Obama White House and the Centers for Disease Control, ordering a mandatory 21-day “controlled monitoring” program on all troops returning from deployment in the Ebola zone.
#BREAKING: Defense Secretary Hagel orders mandatory 21-day quarantine for US military returning from Ebola response efforts in West Africa
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 29, 2014
The Joint Chiefs of Staff had recommended the quarantine, but Hagel took a day to deliberate before siding with them. The decision should lead to another round of Josh Earnest trying to explain why military members, most of whom will have no contact with Ebola patients, should be quarantined but civilian doctors and nurses, who do come into direct contact with Ebola patients, should not.
Just two days ago, White House spokesman Josh Earnest described New Jersey’s effort to quarantine nurse Kaci Hickox as “disrespecting her service.” Will the Pentagon’s quarantine of troops “disrespect” their service? Why or why not?
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