New York doctor tests positive for Ebola, Filipino health workers alarmed

By Don Tagala, ABS-CBN North America Bureau

Oct. 24, 2014

NEW YORK – A New York doctor who was recently in West Africa treating Ebola patients tested positive for the deadly virus Thursday.

Dr. Craig Spencer, 33, the first person to test positive for Ebola in New York City, is now in contact isolation at the Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

Spencer recently came back from Guinea, West Africa, working with “Doctors Without Borders” to treat Ebola patients.

He developed a 100.3 degree fever and was taken to a hospital where he tested positive for Ebola.

“When he saw that he had a fever and he believed he was symptomatic, he presented himself to the hospital,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York. “A team went out with protective gear. He was picked up, brought to a pre-prepared isolation unit, so it couldn’t have proceeded better.”

“We’ve been preparing for months for the threat posed by Ebola,” said New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, “with clear and strong protocols that have been followed and were followed in this instance, and Bellevue hospital is especially designed for isolation, identification and treatment of Ebola patients.”

Some of the estimated 80 percent Filipino health care staff working at the Bellevue Hospital have mixed feelings about their newest patient.

“Medyo ninerbiyos ako,” said Gilbert Palisoc, a medical surgical technician at the hospital, “kasi kaya ako ninerbiyos, kasi delikadong kuwan yan sakit yan, isolation mas matindi kaysa AIDS or SARS before.”

“Yung pangangamba laging nandun yan, pero ano lang yan,” said Joy Montaya, an assistant nurse. “Dapat sa trabaho focus ka, and you just follow yung rules nila.”

“It’s not easy to say na huwag ka magpanic, because even me, I panic, I’m afraid, I have fear,” said Fidela Ogabon, a registered nurse. “We just have to listen to the current events, what’s going with the Ebola, how to deal with it – at least it will probably reduce your fear.”

City officials say the Ebola situation is under control and the odds of a regular New Yorker catching the deadly virus are incredibly slim. That’s why the mayor is reassuring New Yorkers that there is no reason to panic or be alarmed.