Health Care

Nurse Kaci Hickox defies Ebola quarantine

A nurse who treated Ebola patients in West Africa broke her quarantine Thursday morning, as she left her home for a bike ride with her boyfriend, according to The Associated Press.

Kaci Hickox, who has said she would not comply with Maine’s 21-day quarantine policy, also left her home Wednesday night to speak to reporters in her driveway. As she pushed back against the policy, Maine officials said they would “seek legal authority” to force her confinement.

{mosads}”I’m not willing to stand here and let my civil rights be violated when it’s not science-based,” she told reporters before returning inside, the AP reports.

She says there’s no need to stay inside because she’s not exhibiting any symptoms.

Hickox was quarantined Friday at Newark Liberty International Airport after returning from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. 

“I do understand that [Ebola] has created a lot of fear, but we still have to make policies based on evidence,” she told NBC’s “Today” show. 

— Sarah Ferris contributed to this report, which was originally published on Oct. 29 at 11:50 p.m. and updated on Oct. 30 at 9:26 a.m.