A cruise ship returned to Texan waters, only to end a pretty bad Ebola scare. A lab worker from the Dallas hospital who may have handled specimens collected from the first person to be given a diagnosis of Ebola in the US, Thomas Eric Duncan, went into voluntary quarantine in her cabin along with her husband last Wednesday, after the cruise operator was told by federal authorities that she was on board. The cruise was on its way to Belize, but the country's State Department refused to let the couple, or any other passengers disembark. The same thing happened in Cozumel, where Mexican authorities decided not to let the ship dock for the cruise’s visitors.
Officials made it very clear that the woman was low-risk and her incubation period was coming to an end without having presented any symptoms, whatsoever. Even so, passengers were not at ease continuing the vacation and the ship’s itinerary was cut short to return to its origins.
Texas Health President, Barclay Berdan, apologized by saying, “We made a mistake as an institution, in handling this difficult challenge.” Additionally, Dallas Presbyterian hospital directives continued to apologize as well for “failing” in their diagnosis and processes, after sending Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan home, when he arrived at the hospital the first time, presenting clear symptoms of infection. Duncan was later admitted to the hospital and became the first patient to die from the virus in the US.
A Coast Guard helicopter had flown to the ship Saturday and received samples from the ship’s health care that were taken to Austin, Texas for further testing. While the virus was ruled out, authorities and cruise directives decided it was better to return to the ship’s starting point and end the passengers worrisome vacation.
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