http://q13fox.com/2014/10/03/sanitizing-crew-turned-away-at-ebola-patients-residence-in-dallas/Sanitizing crew turned away at Ebola patient’s residence in Dallas
Posted 7:14 AM, October 3, 2014, by Q13 FOX News Staff
DALLAS, Texas (CNN) — The Dallas County Health and Human Services director said Friday that the Ebola situation there is “under control.”
“It is contained,” Zachary Thompson told CNN’s “New Day” on Friday. The Ebola patient’s “family is being monitored. There is no outbreak. And so therefore everyone should ease their fears and allow public health officials … to respond to this issue.”
Four days after a Liberian man was diagnosed with Ebola in the Texas city, the apartment where he stayed has not been sanitized, a cleaning crew contracted to do the job said. Four other people are still living there.
Thomas Eric Duncan became the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil when he was hospitalized days after arrival from Liberia.
His partner and her family are in isolation at the apartment, which still has the sheets, clothes and towels Duncan used.
Before leaving his homeland, Duncan answered no to questions on whether he was exposed to the deadly virus, said Binyah Kesselly of the Liberia Airport Authority.
Duncan had been helping Ebola patients, including caring for one at a residence outside the capital of Monrovia, Liberian community leader Tugbeh Chieh Tugbeh said.
Cleanup delayed
As concerns grow over how many people he may have exposed to the deadly virus, a plan to sanitize the apartment was delayed late Thursday.
Brad Smith of the Cleaning Guys, which was hired to sanitize the apartment, said his company does not have the proper permits to transport hazardous waste on Texas highways. The company specializes in hazmat and biohazard cleaning services.
Smith said authorities sent his crew away late Thursday before they entered the apartment and told them to come back with proper permits. It’s unclear how long that will take.
“The permit is being processed through DOT (the Department of Transportation) because it is a special permit,” Smith said.
“This is a unique situation. Once awarded, our hazmat teams will be allowed back inside to do their jobs.”
Duncan was visiting his son and his son’s mother in Dallas, said Wilfred Smallwood, his half-brother.
The woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Louise, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper she is quarantined with one of her children under age 13 and two nephews in their 20s.
Louise used bleach to clean her apartment, “but it’s not clear to me how systematic the cleaning was,” Cooper said.
They’ve been holed up in the apartment since Duncan became ill.
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