Monitored Health Care Workers Hit Milestone

Dallas city leaders are celebrating another milestone Wednesday as health care workers who treated Thomas Eric Duncan are now two weeks into their monitoring period.

The medical team that treated Duncan started watching for signs and symptoms of Ebola on Oct. 8, the same day Duncan died from Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said making it to two weeks without any signs or symptoms is a good sign. At this point, the chance of getting the virus decreases every day.

“If the health care workers who were taking care of Mr. Duncan get through the next seven days, we might be out of the woods,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said.

The next date to look for is 21 days after the last contact with the Ebola patient. The monitoring period continues for a total of 21 days out of an abundance of caution.

At that point, the health care workers can return to a normal life.

The World Health Organization declares the a case over after 42 days.

Not all of the people still being monitored are at two weeks. Some of them, like the medical staff taking care of nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, are at a week or less.

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