New York City was shaken Thursday night after it was revealed a doctor who has been diagnosed with the deadly and contagious Ebola virus came home from West Africa and traveled extensive throughout the borough of Manhattan.
According to media reports, Dr. Craig Spencer rode the subway, walked on The High Line, went to a bowling alley, a music club and even took an Uber cab.
Spencer, 33, is an employee of Doctors Without Borders and was in the West African country of Guinea treating patients there who had contracted Ebola. He returned to New York on Oct. 17, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a press conference.
Officials said Spencer didn’t come down with symptoms until Thursday, CNN reports, but he traveled extensively throughout the borough of Manhattan. Spencer did not venture into the other four boroughs (The Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens) that make up the city of New York . No official was able to explain to the public why Spencer was all over the city immediately after returning from West Africa without going through the 21-day quarantine protocol.
Spencer reportedly told doctors he took the L, A and 1 trains Wednesday, walked on The High Line, went bowling at The Gutter in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and caught some music at the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, officials said.
“There’s no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed,” Mayor de Blasio said at a press conference Thursday night.
Mary Bassett, commissioner of the city Department of Health, said Spencer had no symptoms when he was out on Wednesday, but had been feeling fatigued since Tuesday.
MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said the agency was taking precautions to ensure the subways are safe. The agency has a series of plans for dealing with everything from an influenza epidemic to West Nile virus, and the handling of potentially infectious waste on the subway like vomit, blood and urine.
“We are still reviewing our protocols with health experts and labor partners,” Lisberg said.
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