In the aftermath of the news of the latest domestic Ebola victim as well as revelations of unsanitary procedures at the hospital where Thomas Eric Duncan was treated, Dallas is on the brink of a state of emergency. With 29 year old nurse Amber Vinson now a confirmed case and the probability of more on the way a state of dread is creeping through the DFW Metroplex. Stomach churning details of Duncan’s “explosive diarrhea” and “projectile vomiting” as well as the lack of any sort of suitable protective gear have caused Texas Health Presbyterian hospital to issue a public apology. With the infection of two of the health care workers who aided patient zero in his dying days it isn’t exactly a reach to expect that additional victims are coming soon.
According to a story from The Hill entitled “Dallas might seek emergency declaration”:
Dallas County officials are considering asking Gov. Rick Perry (R) to declare a state of emergency for an area that has reported three cases of Ebola.
The county commissioners will meet Thursday afternoon to weigh the option, the Dallas Morning News reported late Wednesday.
A state of emergency would activate "appropriate recovery and rehabilitation aspects of all applicable local or interjurisdictional emergency management plans," according to state law.
It would also authorize emergency aid and assistance. Governors typically declare a state of emergency after a natural disaster.
Perry said Wednesday that he is in daily contact with state health leaders as regularly communicating with White House officials.
“This is the first time that our nation has had to deal with a threat such as this," Perry said in a statement Wednesday. "Every relevant agency at the local, state and national levels is working to support these individuals"
Dallas has reported two cases of Ebola since Saturday. Both patients are healthcare workers who had helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died from the disease last week.
Hospital staffers were not expected to be at risk of contracting the virus and were not being actively monitored by state or federal health officials. One of the nurses also took a flight into a Dallas airport just hours before she was diagnosed.
As for the hospital workers not being expected to get Ebola shows just how clueless local and national authorities are over the virus. The CDC still can’t make up its mind on whether it can be transmitted by air – sneezes etc. – but had better get a clue quickly considering the fact that Vinson flew on a commercial airliner this week. There is an ongoing effort to track down the passengers but they have had days to further spread the virus if they had been affected.
What a state of emergency would look like is anyone’s guess. The Democrat Governor of Connecticut Dannel Malloy has already laid the groundwork for the suspension of civil liberties in his state with his own declaration last week and God only knows what the feds are capable of. A wider geographic area of potential infection could lead to further declarations and even quarantines but thanks to the ongoing war on the Constitution and the militarizing of the police after 9/11 at least we are prepared for martial law if and when the time comes.
President Barack Obama continues to downplay the changes of a more widespread outbreak, calling the risk “very, very low”. This statement is coming from a man with an uncanny ability to lie about damned near everything with a straight face so the best bet is to prepare for the worst. If there really was nothing to worry about Barry wouldn’t have cancelled his latest fundraising trip weeks before the critical mid-term elections with the fate of the Senate in the balance.
We are now sailing in uncharted waters with morons setting the course so the coming days will be a good time to stock up on hand sanitizer which is already flying off the shelves.
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