U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., called for restricting travel with Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea on Monday. Pointing to warnings issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Buchanan said more needs to be done to limit travel with those nations.
It makes sense for the government to conduct tighter screening of those trying to enter our country from Ebola-ravaged nations, Buchanan said.
We can keep Americans safe and show compassion by continuing to send in medical supplies to help African nations battling the deadly virus, Buchanan added. I hope the FAA and other government agencies are reviewing all available options to keep the outbreak from spreading in the United States.
Buchanan is not the only congressman from Florida pushing the matter. Last week, on the other side of the isle, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., told US News and World Report that he backed travel restrictions on those nations as well as non-Americans who visited those countries within a 90-day window.
Why are we playing dice with the lives of thousands of Americans? Grayson asked US News and World Report.
Grayson doubled down on his support for the ban over the weekend, pointing to the Ebola case in Texas.
Hundreds at risk, millions spent, four schools decontaminated -- so that a Liberian could visit his girlfriend, Grayson noted on Saturday.
A new poll shows a majority of Americans support Buchanans and Graysons idea. Rasmussen Reports released a poll on Monday showing 58 percent of American adults would support a temporary travel ban to African nations impacted by Ebola, while only 24 percent oppose the idea and 17 percent remain undecided. The poll of 1,000 American adults was taken Oct. 4-5 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Back in the Sunshine State, the Florida Department of Health teamed up with the CDC over the weekend to test a patient in Miami for Ebola.
Floridas Department of Health is working with the federal CDC to test a patient at a local Miami hospital who was screened today for Ebola, Gov. Rick Scott said on Sunday. Its important to point out that this patient did not meet the CDC case definition for Ebola, but the test is being conducted out of an abundance of caution and health officials expect the test to rule out Ebola. We are in close communication with Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, and other local officials and health leaders in Miami-Dade. As we announced after our health briefing yesterday, Florida still does not have any confirmed cases of Ebola, and we hope we never do, but we are taking every preparedness step possible to keep our citizens and our visitors safe, Scott added. We know from our experience in responding to hurricanes that we must prepare for the worst even as we hope for the best. As part of those preparedness efforts, Floridas Department of Health today requested 30 additional Ebola testing kits from the CDC. This number of kits ensures that all of Floridas 30 public hospitals have the ability to test patients who county health officials and the CDC believe need to be tested for Ebola. Additionally, the Department of Health requested 100 units of high-level personal protective equipment to ensure the state is ready to backfill any county whose medical personnel develop a future need for these supplies.
We know Floridas hospitals and county health offices are prepared to identify and treat patients who may have Ebola," Scott continued. While they are prepared on the local level, the state is requesting increased federal resources out of an abundance of caution for the unlikely event that we may have an extended response that warrants additional resources.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
