Ebola Doctor Craig Spencer 'Lied' About New York Movements; Initially Claimed He 'Self-Quarantined'
New York Doctor Craig Spencer reportedly lied to police about his movements around the city before he tested positive for ebola.
Spencer, 33, treated ebola patients in Guinea for a month and returned to New York on Oct. 17, but did not immediately display any symptoms. A new report citing law-enforcement sources claims the Doctors Without Borders volunteer initially told police that he self-quarantined in his Harlem apartment and that they discovered this to be false after checking his bank statement and Metrocard.
"He told the authorities that he self-quarantined. Detectives then reviewed his credit card statement and MetroCard and found that he went over here, over there, up and down and all around," a source said according The New York Post.
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On Oct. 23, the same day that he first began to exhibit symptoms, he tested positive for the virus at Bellevue Hospital. Police later learned that just one day prior he traveled on at least three heavily-trafficked Manhattan subway lines, dined out, went bowling and rode in an Uber cab.
He reportedly came clean and confirmed the above when a police officer "got on the phone and had to relay questions to him through the Health Department," a source said.
Spencer is the ninth case of Ebola in the United States, and the seventh U.S. patient to have contracted the deadly virus while treating infected patients. He is currently under quarantine and in a stable condition after receiving blood from ebola survivor Nancy Writebol.
"The patient looks better than he looked yesterday, but he remains in serious but stable condition with the expected symptoms of the virus," New York health and hospitals corporation president Dr. Ram Raju said on Tuesday. "He tolerated the plasma treatment well and had a good night sleep."
On Oct. 8, Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan became the first Ebola victim to die on U.S. soil. Two nurses, Amber Vinson and Nina Pham, contracted the deadly virus while treating him; however, they are now free of the disease after undergoing intensive treatment.
"I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today. I would first and foremost like to thank God, my family, and friends," Pham said at a press conference in Maryland on Friday.
"I'm so grateful to be well, and first and foremost, I want to thank God. I sincerely believe that with God all things are possible," a smiling Vinson said during a press conference in Atlanta yesterday.
