LIJ to build Ebola unit

From Crains:

The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System is planning to build at least one containment unit for patients with Ebola and other infectious diseases, the system announced Thursday. The unit is estimated to cost $15 million, will accommodate eight patients and will take 18 months or more to build. An exact location has not yet been determined.

"In light of the public's anxiety about Ebola, it's clear that we need to develop a more permanent solution to meeting public health needs in the event of a major infectious disease outbreak in the future," said Michael Dowling, the health system's president and chief executive, in a press release announcing the project.

The new unit will be modeled after the Nebraska Medicine Biocontainment Patient Care Unit and the Serious Communicable Disease Unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, both of which have been involved in treating Ebola patients.

The new containment unit will be able to handle other infectious diseases, a spokesman for North Shore-LIJ said. "We deal with all kinds of dangerous infectious diseases," including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the H1N1 virus and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), he said. "They are very contagious, potentially fatal diseases, where if there was a widespread outbreak we should be better prepared to meet public health needs."

LGA workers strike over lack of Ebola protection

From NY Magazine:

About 200 Air Serv employees at La Guardia's Terminal D have staged a strike amid concerns about the spread of Ebola. Air Serv workers are responsible for cleaning the cabins of aircrafts between flights.

The strike started Wednesday night and is supposed to last for 24 hours. The workers say they're regularly exposed to gross bodily fluids left behind by plane passengers, and they don't have the necessary protective gear to fend off Ebola.

Ebola checks at airports

From Fox News:

Travelers arriving from Ebola-stricken countries in West Africa will start to have their temperatures taken upon arrival at five U.S. airports, officials said Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirmed that the five airports would be stepping up their procedures after he was asked at Wednesday's briefing about the fever screening.

"What we are essentially doing is adding another layer of security," Earnest said.

Earnest did not go into details about what the additional screenings would entail, but another official told the Associated Press that the new steps would include taking temperatures and would begin Saturday at New York's JFK International. Earnest said the other airports are Newark, Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Atlanta.

Earnest said the five airports cover the destinations of 94 percent of the people who travel to the U.S. from the three heavily hit countries in West Africa -- Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. He estimated that about 150 people would be checked a day under the new procedures.

Ebola? No problem!

From NBC:

Mayor Bill de Blasio says he's "very confident" the city's hospital system could handle an Ebola outbreak.

De Blasio touts the public health system in the nation's biggest city, the ability of its first responders and its ties to the leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

De Blasio said Monday his city has a "much more aggressive and coherent game plan" than other U.S. cities to fight a potential Ebola case. He says anyone who suspects he or she has Ebola should call 911 or rush to the nearest emergency room.

HA HA HA! NYC emergency rooms couldn't even handle swine flu a few years back.