Maine nurse won't follow quarantine, lawyer says, setting off possible legal battle
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Maine nurse Kaci Hickox doesn’t have Ebola and she won’t follow a quarantine imposed by her home state, one of her lawyers said Tuesday night.
Lawyer Steven Hyman told ABC News his client will monitor herself for a fever, but she doesn’t pose a risk and won’t follow the quarantine. Hickox was forced to spend last weekend in quarantine at a New Jersey hospital after she returned from treating Ebola patients in Africa. She was released to Maine on Monday.
Hyman’s statement set off a possible legal clash as state officials vowed to get a court order, if needed, to keep anyone in quarantine who has had contact with Ebola patients, the Portland Press Herald reports.
Though Hickox has tested negative for Ebola, the result was based on an early test and she could still test positive, according to Maine CDC director Dr. Sheila Pinette.
For now, Hickox is quarantining herself, but she is free to do as she pleases, according to Hyman and a second lawyer for Hickox, Norman Siegel. She is staying at an undisclosed location in Maine.
