Obama hugs Dallas nurse hours after she is declared free of Ebola

White House spokesman says president is seeking to reassure public about medical protocols in place to combat disease

theguardian.com, Dan Roberts in Washington, Friday 24 October 2014

Obama gives a hug to Dallas nurse Nina Pham in the Oval Office of the
White House on Friday. Photograph: Pool/Getty Images

Barack Obama sought to reassure Americans over the risks of Ebola transmission on Friday by way of a hug in the Oval Office with Nina Pham, the Dallas nurse who had been declared free of the virus only hours earlier.

White House officials said their invitation to Pham had been made to celebrate her full recovery from the illness at a National Institutes of Health facility in nearby Bethesda.

“This an opportunity for the president to thank her for her service,” said spokesman Josh Earnest. “This is someone who displayed the kind of selfless service to her fellow man that is worthy of some praise.”

But he acknowledged the photo opportunity – just hours after fourth US case was confirmed in New York – was also a way to demonstrate the president’s confidence in medical protocols amid growing political criticism of the administration’s handling of the crisis.

“I think this also should be a pretty apt reminder that we do have the best medical infrastructure in the world, and certainly a medical infrastructure that’s in place to protect the American public and the track record of treating Ebola patients in this country is very strong, particularly for those who are quickly diagnosed,” said Earnest.

Pham received five tests to make sure she was clear of the illness before an earlier press conference with doctors at the NIH, but no additional screening procedures were in place at the White House.

Earnest also said reports of normal subway traffic in New York this morning were an indication that “people of New York, as they should, feel confident about their safety”.

But earlier Republicans called for tighter protocols to prevent at-risk healthcare workers from travelling to public places during the disease’s incubation period and claimed public confidence had been dented.

“What you have got in place failed,” Florida congressman John Mica told health officials at a hearing of the House oversight committee. “You need a quarantine in place for people coming out of these countries.”

Representative Michael Turner of Ohio, where hundreds of people are being monitored for possible exposure to Ebola from another Dallas nurse, said: “The American public are concerned that people who have been exposed are having too much contact with the public.”

People involved in treating Ebola in Africa warned that excessive travel restrictions would backfire if they deterred medical volunteers.

“We can’t recruit staff if there is a risk they won’t be able to come back home,” said Rabih Torbay of the charity International Medical Corps.

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