The strict quarantine announced by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York is "fantastic" for healthcare workers returning to the U.S. from West Africa, Donald Trump told "Fox & Friends."
Trump said it was unfortunate the White House had put "a lot of pressure on Gov. Cuomo," a Democrat who has since taken a step back on the guidelines that he and Christie, a Republican, announced Friday.
Nevertheless, Trump said it was inevitable the United States would have to initiate strong guidelines to keep Ebola from spreading into the country.
"I think it's fantastic," the real estate and media billionaire said Monday. "I think it's great. I think it's what has to happen. We're dealing with a tremendously serious situation."
The announcement by Christie and Cuomo called for a mandatory 21-day quarantine for healthcare workers returning to the U.S. after caring for Ebola patients in West Africa.
Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn announced on Saturday he, too, would impose a strict quarantine,
reported MSNBC, and Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott ordered twice-daily monitoring for a
21-day period for anyone returning to the U.S. from countries that had been stricken with Ebola.
While officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintained Ebola was difficult to catch, Trump said an NBC cameraman working in West Africa and two nurses in Dallas fell ill with Ebola despite taking precautions when they were exposed to the disease.
Trump said the latest patient to be diagnosed with the disease,
Dr. Craig Spencer, had been "selfish" in his actions upon returning to New York from treating Ebola patents in Guinea. Spencer was diagnosed with Ebola on Thursday, after having returned from West Africa a week earlier.
"I consider that doctor extremely selfish who came back, and then he toured New York. He went on crowded subways during rush hour, had dinner in Brooklyn, went to a bowling alley and bowled, and went all over the place. I think he's a very selfish person," Trump said.
Trump said the CDC's protocols for healthcare workers returning from West Africa that imposed a self-regulated quarantine were "absolutely ridiculous," and suggested the U.S. should follow the guidelines of the countries in Africa nearby those hardest hit by Ebola.
"We should do what other countries are doing. If you come from West Africa, especially from the hot spot, you just can't come in. We can't destroy our country, and that could very well happen," he said.
Trump said another risk to Americans was the enterovirus, thought to be carried into the country by illegal aliens crossing the southern U.S. border. He described the illness as "very, very infectious," a virus which posed a "tremendous problem" to the country.
"The disease coming in from Mexico, all of the different diseases that are coming in, of which there are many, that's another topic that people aren't even talking about," he said.
Enterovirus 68 is a respiratory infection that primarily strikes children, and has been responsible for at least four deaths this year in the United States.
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