Ace:
First of all, all travelers originating from those countries (whether by direct or indirect flight) will have to terminate at one of five specified airports, which I guess will supposedly be given additional training so they can perform better screenings.
But the only screening specified is… taking the passenger’s temperature.Something we already know doesn’t work.
This is obviously a political move designed to pretend that we’re blocking ebola cases from entering the US. But the maneuver itself is calculated to not block potential ebola cases. Once again, we’re relying on the taking-temperature “screening,” which has failed to stop not one but two ebola-infected patients from traveling to or within the US.
Meanwhile, a Fox TV report stated that the CDC had announced new protocols for health care workers. I don’t see a print story yet, and I forget the details mentioned. However, the new protocols, broadly, were:
1. personal protective equipment (PPE) must not leave any skin exposed. I would have thought this would have been the old protocol, but apparently it’s a new one.
2. Health care personnel must practice and drill putting on and taking off PPE. Again, the time for practice and drilling was five months ago, when ebola had a historically-unprecedented outbreak Africa.
3. The reporter mentioned something about a supervisor or “buddy” making sure that personnel were putting on and taking off their PPE properly.
Incidentally, they ran some B-roll of people drilling at putting on and taking off the PPE; it appears that medical personnel are leaving their gloves on until last. Taking off one’s gloves first — per the old protocol — exposes the user to ebola when he touches a piece of ebola-infected gear (such as his face shield). I mentioned that as a flaw in the old protocols.
Five months after a historically-unprecedented outbreak, we’re implementing these (still inadequate) protocols.
Here are the new “tightened” protocols. The CDC, five months too late.