New federal Ebola guidelines issued in US after criticism from UN

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United Nations secretary general expresses concerns at treatment of healthcare workers returning from affected countries

Ban Ki-moon
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in New York City last week. Photograph: Mike Pont/FilmMagic

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon declared on Monday that he was “concerned” by restrictions put in place in the US and elsewhere for healthcare workers returning from treating Ebola patients in west Africa, saying they should not be “stigmatised”.

Ban’s statement comes after the governors of New York and New Jersey relaxed some quarantine measures for returning healthcare workers. The quarantines had been heavily criticized by the White House and medical professionals.

The orders led New Jersey to keep an asymptomatic nurse in a quarantine tent for three days, with and a portable toilet and no shower. The New Jersey governor said she will be released on Monday and allowed to return to her home to Maine.

Ban called healthcare workers in west Africa “exceptional people who are giving of themselves for humanity”.