Australian Red Cross aid worker set to return to normal life after twice testing negative for virus following return from Sierra Leone
A Cairns nurse who sparked an Ebola scare when she developed a fever after returning from west Africa is set to return to normal life after three weeks in isolation.
Australian Red Cross aid worker Sue Ellen Kovack was admitted to a Cairns hospital earlier this month after coming down with a low-grade fever soon after returning from treating victims in Sierra Leone.
The 57-year-old twice tested negative for the virus before she was released from hospital on 13 October to complete the 21-day incubation period for Ebola at home.
A spokesman from the Red Cross confirmed that the isolation period ended on Wednesday, although he would not provide any other details.
He said the nurse had requested not to speak to the media.
Kovack has pleaded for more action to fight the disease, which has killed thousands in west Africa since the start of the year.
“The international community needs to do so much more right now to stop Ebola in its tracks, before it really gets right out of control,” she said in a statement last week.
Her pleas were made on the same day the prime minister, Tony Abbott, announced no Australian health workers would be sent to Ebola-ravaged west Africa.