President Obama spoke Thursday evening on the Ebola crisis, and said his administration is considering the possibility of an Ebola czar, someone to oversee the government’s response to this virus.
He referenced the two nurses who are being treated for Ebola and emphasized the importance of monitoring anyone who came in contact with the one nurse who took a plane a day before she reportedly started developing systems.
Obama said he’s spoken with the governors of both Ohio and Texas, where Ebola panic is the strongest right now, and said both states will have all the resources they need to deal with this public health crisis.
The president also addressed calls for a travel ban. And while he has no “philosophical objection” to it, as Obama put it, he said he’s listened to plenty of experts who have told him it’s less effective than current screening procedures. He ended his remarks by acknowledging the importance of him and other officials “to provide assurance to the public that folks are taking this very seriously, and they are.”
He took one question at the end about a possible Ebola czar. Obama explained that he has full confidence in the head of the CDC and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, but acknowledged it may become necessary to appoint someone to oversee the entire effort.
Watch Obama’s full remarks below, via CNN:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czHNpnFY8xA