Kaci Hickox defied a directive to stay at home after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, and now she has found support in a local judge.
Hickox was told to stay at home, following her visit to Africa, where she assisted in treating patients diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus. The health care worker was twice cleared in health screenings, and has shown no signs of the disease. The disease cannot be spread by people who are not exhibiting symptoms, even if they have been exposed to the virus.
Judge Charles C. LaVerdiere rejected a temporary court order which required Hickox to stay in her home. The decision was handed down on October 31.
Officials from the state of Maine had requested the court impose an order, preventing Hickox from coming closer than three feet to members of the public, until 21 days had passed from the time she left Africa. The virus incubates in the human body within three weeks of exposure.
Paul LePage, governor of Maine, said he disagrees with the court decision, but the state has no plans to appeal the ruling. The Republican leader in the Pine Tree State expressed his feelings toward Hickox after her newsworthy bicycle ride.
"She has violated every promise she has made so far, so I can't trust her. I don't trust her. And I don't trust that we know enough about this disease to be so callous," LePage told the press.
The 33-year-old nurse will be monitored daily for symptoms of Ebola and she will need to inform health departments of any locations where she intends to travel before the end of the incubation period. She has also been ordered to report any symptoms she does experience to local officials.
Maine State Police maintained a presence at the home in northern Maine from the time Hickox and her boyfriend Ted Wilbur arrived, until roughly an hour after the decision was handed down.
"She's a hero. She is out there risking her life to take care of these people with this horrible disease. When she comes back, instead of giving her a ticker tape parade, we're talking about quarantining her," David Soley, an attorney of Hickox from the law firm Bernstein Shur in Maine, said.
Hickox cared for Ebola patients in Africa as part of Doctors Without Borders. She left Sierra Leone on October 20.
Following this ruling by LaVerdiere, the nurse is free to go where she pleases, without restriction. Her first action following the ruling on Halloween day was to stay home and watch a scary movie.
