Washington, Oct 29 (IANS) US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Wednesday approved a measure to place under a 21-day supervised isolation regimen all military service members returning from Ebola response efforts in West Africa.
According to a Pentagon statement, the order will apply to all military services that are contributing personnel to the fight against Ebola at its source, Xinhua reported.
Hagel has also ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a detailed implementation plan within 15 days for his review.
In addition, Hagel directed that the Joint Chiefs conduct a review of this new regimen within 45 days from now. The review will offer a recommendation on whether or not such controlled monitoring should continue based on what they learn and observe from the initial waves of personnel returning from the Ebola mission.
Earlier, US President Barack Obama defended the government’s new directives regarding monitoring of people who have been exposed to the Ebola virus, asking the public not to let themselves be influenced by “fear”, since progress is being made in halting the spread of the disease.
