After consultation with CDC and Mount Sinai, the Health Department has concluded that the patient is unlikely to have Ebola. Specimens are being tested for common causes of illness and to definitively exclude Ebola.

Although we have seen a number of cases of people who were sick and had recent travel that raised concerns, we have not had a single confirmed case of Ebola in New York City. Nonetheless, we recognize that health care workers in New York City are concerned about their risk. Since the end of July, the New York City Health Department, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and the New York State Department of Health have been working closely with the Greater New York Hospital Association, individual hospitals and first responders to make sure they have adequate supplies, including Personal Protective Equipment, training, and protocols to care for Ebola patients safely. Meticulous adherence to these guidelines, established in accordance with CDC guidance, will keep health workers involved in direct care for patients with Ebola safe from infection. We will continue to work with our partners, including health care worker unions, to ensure that healthcare workers and first responders can do their jobs safely and effectively.

In addition to other precautions, HHC is implementing a buddy system in which health care workers monitor another health care giver to ensure that a breach if infection control protocol does not occur. The 11-hospital public system is also conducting ongoing drills with fake patients to test readiness, as are private hospitals, and HHC has created a special unit at Bellevue Hospital to treat patients at risk for Ebola.