Maine ends standoff with Ebola nurse

The state of Maine has ended its weeklong standoff with the 33-year-old nurse who refused to comply with a quarantine order after treating Ebola patients overseas.

Kaci Hickox, a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders, said Monday that she will follow the state’s new restrictions, which require her to be monitored daily for symptoms and to coordinate any long-term travel.

{mosads}But she will no longer be subject to the state’s strict isolation policy, earning herself a victory in her closely watched brawl against Gov. Paul LePage (R).

The rules will go into effect until Nov. 10, which marks the end of the virus’s three-week incubation period.

Hickox has become the public face of harsh quarantine policies that have been enacted by states like New Jersey, where she was held for multiple days when she first arrived from Sierra Leone. 

After she was transferred to her home state of Maine, she was told to stay away from all public spaces and to follow a three-foot no-touch policy, even around friends and family. She was the first person quarantined in the United States without known exposure to the virus.

Her defiance of the quarantine included a bike ride around town with her boyfriend, which was shown on a half-dozen cable news shows. 

LePage, who is facing a competitive election Tuesday, had said that he would comply with the judge’s order, but called it “unfortunate.”

“As governor, I have done everything I can to protect the health and safety of Mainers. The judge has eased restrictions with this ruling and I believe it is unfortunate. However, the State will abide by law,” LePage wrote in a Friday release.