Carney breaks with WH on Ebola response

Former White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday that he believed it would be “wise” for the White House to take “substantive actions” — including possible travel restrictions — to address the Ebola crisis.

“I think substantive actions need to be taken, and they may involve flight restrictions, they may involve moving all patients to specific hospitals in the country that can handle Ebola, and I think those would be wise decisions to make,” Carney told CNN.

“I’m not an expert, but I think that would demonstrate a level of seriousness in response to this that is merited at this point,” he added.

{mosads}Carney’s suggestions were offered amid criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the first U.S. case of Ebola. A Liberian man infected with Ebola was able to slip past airport screenings, and was originally released from the Dallas hospital where he sought treatment. After being readmitted and diagnosed with Ebola, two healthcare workers were infected with the deadly virus — including one who was given permission to fly commercially hours before she was diagnosed.

President Obama has cancelled two days of campaign activities, but following a meeting of top administration officials on Wednesday, did not announce major new steps to address the crisis.

Critics have suggested not only additional travel restrictions and the diversion of all Ebola patients to hospitals with biocontainment units, but also the appointment of an Ebola czar to oversee the federal response.

Carney’s successor and former deputy, Josh Earnest, said Wednesday that a travel ban was “not on the table at this point.”

“Shutting down travel to that area of the world would prevent the expeditious flow of personnel and equipment into the region,” Earnest said. “And the only way for us to stop this outbreak and to eliminate any risk from Ebola to the American public is to stop this outbreak at the source.”

Still, Earnest said Carney “raises some good points.”

“That is why you have seen that this administration, in response to some of the shortcomings that have been identified, ramp up our response to make sure that we are closing those gaps,” Earnest said.

The president on Wednesday said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention would be deploying rapid-response teams to hospitals when new patients were diagnosed — a signal the government still believed that local medical facilities could adequately treat patients.

Obama said a CDC “SWAT team” would appear “hopefully within 24 hours so that they are taking the local hospital step by step through exactly what needs to be done and making sure that all the protocols are properly observed.”

Earnest dismissed the suggestion the administration was not taking the crisis seriously enough.

“I think that the president, based on his response and the response of his team, indicates that we’re deadly serious about this,” Earnest said. “We’re dealing with a deadly disease. And what you are seeing is the kind of tenacious response that the American people are counting on.”

— This story was updated at 3:04 p.m.