With no let-up in the Ebola scare, President Barack Obama on Friday appointed a “czar” to manage the US Government’s response to the deadly virus that has raised fears of spreading fast after two nurses contracted it from a liberian patient who died within days of his arrival here.
Obama named Ron Klain, a former Chief of Staff for Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, as the Ebola “czar” in the face of growing public anxiety and mounting Republican criticism over his administration’s handling of the challenge.Klain will be responsible for coordinating the Government’s overall response to the Ebola epidemic, including efforts to contain the virus in Africa and the response to its arrival in the United States. He will report directly to the President’s Homeland Security Advisor lisa Monaco and National Security Advisor Susan Rice.
The appointment came even as Republican lawmakers intensified their demand for ordering a blanket travel ban from the three Ebola-ravaged nations of West Africa: liberia, Sierra leone and Guinea. The lawmakers grilled top Obama officials at a Congressional hearing on Thursday.Obama, however, remains opposed to the idea of a travel ban which, he feels, would prove to be counter-productive. Institution of such a ban could lead to increased avoidance of screening measures by travellers and refusal to disclose information about their affliction.
At the same time, he clarified that he does not have a “philosophical objection” to a travel ban should that emerge as the crucial option to keep the American people safe. But all discussions with experts so far have led him to conclude that a travel ban is less effective than the protocols put in place.
The two nurses of the Texas Presbyterian Hospital who contracted the Ebola virus after attending to liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan have been moved out from Dallas. One of them, Nina Pham, was flown on Thursday night to the National Institutes of Health on the outskirts of Washington, while the other, Amber Vinson, was shifted the previous night to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Amid the growing scare, schools were closed in Texas and Ohio, the latter because of Vinson’s visit to Cleveland over the weekend just before she was diagnosed with Ebola. The los Angeles Times reported that Frontier Airlines would contact some 750 other passengers who had flown on different flights, but the same plane as Vinson.
On Capitol Hill, Dr Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the public face hitherto of the Obama administration’s response on the Ebola challenge, faced considerable grilling during a Congressional hearing on Thursday.
Supporting about 60 lawmakers, mostly Republican, who are demanding the travel ban, Speaker John Boehner said it was something the President should consider. “The President has the authority to take this action right now. The House will continue to conduct rigorous oversight, which, along with discussions with our members, will help inform our path forward as we continue to assess the administration’s response,” Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said. Eleven Senators, 10 of them Republican, also backed the demand.