COLUMBUS, Ohio – A legislative panel in Ohio is expected to consider a funding request to help pay for more protective gear for health care providers should the state have a suspected or confirmed case of Ebola.
Related: US to issue new Ebola guidelines
The most recent update from Department of Health shows no cases of Ebola, three people who are quarantined after coming into contact with a nurse who visited Akron and Cleveland shortly before she was diagnosed with the virus in Texas, and 153 people in 14 counties, including Franklin County, who are self-monitoring because they were in the same place as Amber Vinson.
The agency is requesting approval from the state Controlling Board Monday to spend $300,000 for more equipment and up to $500,000 to dispose of contaminated linens and other items if a case occurs.
The department says its existing equipment includes more than 105,000 gloves, 100,000 face masks, 29,000 respirators and 7,000 gowns. Hospitals have their own supplies, too.
The state has stepped up its Ebola quarantine protocols to include travel restrictions for 116 residents under surveillance for the deadly disease.
Enhanced protocols issued Saturday night by the Ohio Department of Health apply to those Ohioans required to have their health condition monitored daily by a local health department and to those required to self-report their condition to a local health department.
The guidelines urge those under daily monitoring not to leave their health department’s jurisdiction unless the health district where they’re traveling consents and agrees to perform monitoring. Those who are self-reporting are urged not to travel outside the United States.
State epidemiologist Mary DiOrio says Ohio’s exceeding Centers for Disease Control requirements to remove “the slightest chance” of spreading the disease.