Texas Hospital Apologizes For Ebola Mistakes

[Mila]

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The second Ebola-stricken nurse in Texas, Amber Vinson, flew home from Cleveland to Dallas while she had a fever.

 

Before she boarded, Vinson called the CDC to report that she had a temperature of 99.5 Fahrenheit, a federal official told CNN, and she was not told she shouldn't get on the plane. However, it's unknown what exactly she was told.

CDC Director Tom Frieden said Vinson shouldn't have flown because she helped care for Duncan, and because another health worker who cared for him already had been diagnosed with the virus.

 

 

Several Texas and Ohio schools close

News of Vinson's travel on a Frontier Airlines plane led to school closures in two states.

In Texas, a few schools in the Belton Independent School District are closed Thursday because two students were on the same flight as Vinson from Cleveland to Dallas -- Frontier Airlines Flight 1143, the superintendent said.

And in Ohio, two schools in the Solon School District in suburban Cleveland are closed Thursday because a staffer "traveled home from Dallas on Frontier Airlines Tuesday on a different flight, but perhaps the same aircraft" as Vinson, the school district said in a statement.

"Although we believe what the science community and public health officials are telling us about the low risk of possible transmission of the virus through indirect contact, we are nonetheless taking the unusual step of closing the dual school building for Thursday so that we can have the schools cleaned and disinfected," the statement said.

 

 

Frontier Airlines grounds six crew members

The school districts aren't the only ones concerned about Vinson's travels.

Frontier Airlines placed six crew members on paid leave for 21 days "out of an abundance of caution," CEO David Siegel wrote in a letter to employees.

The airline also removed the plane's seat covers and carpet near where the infected passenger sat, even though it had not been asked to by the CDC, Siegel said.

Meanwhile, four major U.S. airports will begin enhanced screenings for Ebola on Thursday. They are Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.