Spanish Nurse "can see the moment" likely infected with Ebola, touched face while removing gear

[morningfog]

Sounding very tired, Teresa Romero, the nursing assistant who contracted Ebola in Spain, has told EL PAÍS that she may have become infected when removing her protective suit after cleaning up the room of Manuel García Viejo, a Spanish missionary who was infected with the virus and had been treated in Madrid’s Carlos III Hospital by a medical team that included Romero.

“I think the error was the removal of the suit,” she told EL PAÍS by phone. “I can see the moment it may have happened, but I’m not sure about it.

“I hope that I can get through this,” Romero added. “I have to get through this.”

http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/10/08/inenglish/1412773314_084887.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. TheGuardian article today about this says

Germán Ramírez, the doctor attending to Romero Ramos, said the nurse may have contracted the virus when she was taking off her protective equipment.

He said he had spoken to her several times and she had suggested she may have touched her face with her gloves while taking off her protective suit.

He added that health professionals were supervised whenever they were taking off or putting on their protective equipment.

So if she were supervised, why isn't her supervisor confirming if she touched her face???

And..get this...the nurse contradicts his explanation.

"she believed she had followed nursing protocols while caring for the infected patient.
She said she “didn’t have the slightest clue” as to how she had contracted the virus and rejected any insinuation of human error"

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/08/spanish-ebola-nurse-symptoms-quarantine

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. She found out the diagnosis of Ebola from the El Pais website?

In statements made to TV network Cuatro, the nursing assistant said no one told her that she was infected with Ebola and that she found out via the EL PAÍS website. What’s more, she admitted that she did not tell her doctor that she had been in contact with patients who had been infected with the virus. “The nurses who dealt with me were wearing normal clothes, without any protection when they took me to the hospital. I asked the doctor for my results and he did not want to say anything to me, which is when I became suspicious,” she added.

[MohRokTah]

3. Every human being touches their face between 3000 and 4000 times daily.

That's a tough habit to break for anybody.