http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/222433-court-orders-maine-nurse-to-stay-away-from-public-placesBy Sarah Ferris - 10/31/14 10:41 AM EDT
A district court in Maine has issued a temporary order to restrict the movements of a nurse who recently treated Ebola patients in West Africa, but has refused to comply with a state-ordered quarantine.
The state now has the legal authority to force the 33-year-old Fort Kent resident, Kaci Hickox, to comply with rules intended to prevent the spread of Ebola, according to local news outlets.
Under the rules, Hickox would not face the three-week home quarantine that she has resisted. The court ordered her, however, to refrain from all public places and to stay at least three feet away from other individuals.
She would also be asked to comply with daily visits by local health officials, to refrain from public transportation and not to travel without consulting her town’s public health officials.
The restrictions are largely consistent with the federal guidelines for a person deemed to have some risk of contracting Ebola.
The state filed its request with a local court Friday morning and a hearing will be held in the next week to determine how long Hickox must comply with the rules. The court has not yet posted the documents online.
Hickox and Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) have engaged in a weeklong legal brawl after her return from an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone.
Hickox, who was quarantined outside a New Jersey airport after she reported a high fever, has since tested negative for the disease twice and vowed not to comply with a quarantine in her home state. LePage, who is facing a competitive election next week, responded Thursday by vowing to seek legal authority to enforce it.
"I was ready and willing — and remain ready and willing — to reasonably address the needs of healthcare workers meeting guidelines to assure the public health is protected," LePage wrote in a statement Thursday afternoon.
