Harlemites are worried right now as there is a resident who was recently traveling to Africa who came down with Ebola-like symptoms and was rushed to the hospital. Rolling out spoke exclusively with New York City Council member Mark Levine, who represents District 7 in Hamilton Heights, about the breaking news story that is still developing.
“This is the home of a doctor who had been in Guinea in West Africa treating Ebola patients. We don’t know when he returned but it’s within the 21-day incubation period, so he was still at risk. He became symptomatic and called 911 at noon today. A special EMS crew came that’s trained to handle sensitive cases like this at about 1 p.m. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, which is [New York City’s] designated isolation ward. Tests are underway. I assume it was probably done by abut 2 p.m, but it’s a 12-hour turnaround time. So we won’t know for sure whether he has the disease until the middle of the night. Meanwhile, there are other tests being done for malaria, stomach flu, because the symptoms are all common and similar, and it’s possible, let’s just hope that it’s the stomach flu.”
It will be a sleepless night for the councilman and many other Harlem residents. This is the most serious potential Ebola case to hit New York City.
“This is the first that has gotten far enough along for impatient care at Bellevue … people are right to be concerned, not panicked, but concerned.”
