Former Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Tevi Troy said on
Newsmax TV's “America’s Forum” on Friday that he disagrees with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that it’s not easy to get infected with Ebola.
“I agree with Mayor Bill de Blasio that it's only transferred through bodily fluids, but I would not agree with him when he said it's extremely difficult to contract,” said Troy, who is now the president of the American Health Policy Institute. “I'm hoping they do the right things in New York and limit the number of people to whom Dr. Craig Spencer spreads the disease.”
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Spencer is the New York doctor who became infected with Ebola after returning from treating patients in Guinea.
While people who live in places like Nebraska and Iowa probably don’t need to be all that concerned, Troy said he’s particularly worried about healthcare workers treating Ebola patients, such as those at New York’s
Bellevue Hospital where Spencer is receiving treatment.
“Bellevue, the hospital where Dr. Spencer is at, is prepared to deal with this, but those healthcare workers would have to work very carefully to make sure they don't contract this disease when trying to help a patient,” he said.
Troy would like to see “vigorous screening of people at a set number of airports so we know who's coming into the country and so we have some controls on what's going on.”
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“They should be more robust about
self-isolation protocols after somebody comes into the country from one of the affected areas,” he said.
Spencer fell short in this area, he noted.
“It looks like while Dr. Spencer was self-monitoring in terms of taking his temperature, he was
not doing self-isolation. He was out in Uber (taxicab), in a bowling alley, subway, etc.”
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