DALLAS — Five days after Thomas Eric Duncan was admitted to a Dallas hospital with a suspected case of Ebola, a crew contracted by Dallas County decontaminated the apartment where he was staying.
Duncan was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian on Sept. 28 and it was confirmed he was infected with the virus two days later. Those who had contact with Duncan at the apartment were officially ordered to stay within the unit Thursday, two days after the Ebola case was confirmed.
Friday afternoon, however, the city confirmed the family has been relocated from the apartment and moved into a private residence in Dallas County.
Four relatives of the Texas Ebola patient have been moved to an undisclosed location. They had been quarantined to their Dallas apartment. VPC
A city official told ABC News the home is in a gated community and was donated by a person who wants to remain anonymous. City officials had a hard time finding anyone willing to let the family stay in their home because of health concerns.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins personally escorted Duncan's family out of the apartment Friday afternoon while wearing no protective gear in an effort to show the public that the family is healthy and there is no reason for concern.
Earlier Friday, Jenkins released a statement saying the initial cleanup was expected to take about three hours. But after crews got into the apartment Friday, officials now say the complete cleanup will take days.
Prior to the scheduled cleanup, county officials said soiled bedding and other contaminated items were placed in plastic bags and remained inside the apartment with quarantined family members.
When cleaning crews entered the apartment, they learned Duncan had slept on every mattress in the apartment during his time there, raising further questions about just how much the family was exposed to the Ebola virus in his time there and why it took so long to get a cleaning crew into the residence.
All of those mattresses, along with sheets, towels, and other items that could be infected with the Ebola virus, have been confiscated and will be incinerated.
Duncan arrived in Dallas from Liberia on Sept. 20. Four days later, he reported feeling ill, and he sought treatment at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital the following day.
While Duncan told a nurse he traveled to the United States from Liberia, the physician wasn't aware of that information when he treated the patient, who was released with a prescription for antibiotics. Thursday night, the hospital revealed a flaw in its electronic record system led to the communication error.
Contributing: Josh Davis of WFAA; The Associated Press
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment