CBS News’s correspondent Lara Logan is being quarantined in a South Africa hotel for 21 days as a precaution after visiting an American-run hospital treating Ebola patients in Liberia for a 60 Minutes report that aired on November 9.
Lara Logan’s 21-day self-quarantine will end on November 14, CBS said.
Neither Lara Logan nor the four other CBS employees in South Africa have shown any sign that they are infected with the virus.
Lara Logan, speaking in a 60 Minutes Overtime web interview from the room where the CBS crew put its report together, admitted to some cabin fever as she waits out her stay. She said the South African government had given the crew permission to work at the hotel.
“We wanted to try, as much as possible, to minimize our exposure to anybody while we still had to get our piece done,” she said.
“We were very mindful of the fact that this 21-day period after you’ve been in an Ebola-affected country is very important to everyone.”
The interview showed Lara Logan and one of her colleagues in a room stuffed with equipment.
“We haven’t traveled far from the room that you can see,” she said.
The 60 Minutes report detailed Lara’s precautions while in Liberia, including being hosed down with a chlorine solution, having her temperature taken frequently and making sure not to touch people. A CBS security worker traveled with the crew with the responsibility of watching everyone’s interactions to minimize any chance they could be infected.
A cameraman who was working for NBC News in Liberia contracted the virus but recovered last month. Nancy Snyderman, the NBC News medical correspondent who worked there, was asked to go into voluntary quarantine when she arrived home but that was made mandatory after she was spotted leaving her home. ABC’s Richard Besser was not quarantined upon his return from Liberia because the ABC team was judged not to have had exposure to the virus.
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