General Discussion

kpete

(71,986 posts) Sat Oct 18, 2014, 10:10 AM Oct 2014

OMG!!! Obama hugged Ebola doctors and an Ebola patient!

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
October 18, 2014

Today, I want to take a few minutes to speak with you – directly and clearly – about Ebola: what we’re doing about it, and what you need to know. Because meeting a public health challenge like this isn’t just a job for government. All of us – citizens, leaders, the media – have a responsibility and a role to play. This is a serious disease, but we can’t give in to hysteria or fear – because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need. We have to be guided by the science. We have to remember the basic facts.

First, what we’re seeing now is not an “outbreak” or an “epidemic” of Ebola in America. We’re a nation of more than 300 million people. To date, we’ve seen three cases of Ebola diagnosed here – the man who contracted the disease in Liberia, came here and sadly died; the two courageous nurses who were infected while they were treating him. Our thoughts and our prayers are with them, and we’re doing everything we can to give them the best care possible. Now, even one infection is too many. At the same time, we have to keep this in perspective. As our public health experts point out, every year thousands of Americans die from the flu.

Second, Ebola is actually a difficult disease to catch. It’s not transmitted through the air like the flu. You cannot get it from just riding on a plane or a bus. The only way that a person can contract the disease is by coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of somebody who is already showing symptoms. I’ve met and hugged some of the doctors and nurses who’ve treated Ebola patients. I’ve met with an Ebola patient who recovered, right in the Oval Office. And I’m fine.