President Obama is trying to lead by example as he works to calm public fears about Ebola in the U.S.
Obama has come into contact with more American Ebola patients, and
the doctors and nurses who treated them, than just about any other
American.
For weeks, the president has repeatedly assured the American people
that the risks of a widespread outbreak are “very, very low.” To hammer
home the point, the president has gone beyond words, to hugs, kisses,
and hand-shakes.
“I want to use myself as an example, just so that people have a sense
of the science here. I shook hands with, hugged and kissed not the
doctors, but a couple of the nurses at Emory, because of the valiant
work that they did in treating one of the patients. They followed the
protocols, they knew what they were doing, and I felt perfectly safe
doing so,” Obama told reporters last month.
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From meeting with health care professionals who have come in close
contact with the deadly virus to hugging survivors, Obama is using these
images to show the public that his administration’s response to the
Ebola crisis is working.
Obama greeted the first ever American Ebola patient, Dr. Kent
Brantly, in the Oval Office less than a month after he was declared
virus-free.
Pete Souza/The White House
PHOTO: President Barack Obama meets with Dr. Kent Brantly and his wife, Amber, during an Oval Office drop by on Sept. 16, 2014.
He then flew to Emory University Hospital to hug and kiss the nurses and doctors who treated Brantly.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/ Photo
PHOTO: President Barack Obama, center,
is pictured with Emory University doctors and healthcare professionals
during a CDC meeting on Sept. 16, 2014 in Atlanta, Ga.
In late September, Obama hosted at the White House leaders of
Ebola “hot zone” countries and embraced a Liberian who contracted the
disease.
PHOTO: President Barack Obama, right,
greets Dr. Melvin Korkor, left, after speaking at the Global Health
Security Agenda Summit on Sept. 26, 2014 in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention who has toured the Ebola wards in West Africa,
gets a prime seat next to Obama for Oval Office briefings.
PHOTO: President Barack Obama points
toward Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, as he speaks to the media about the government’s Ebola
response, Oct. 16, 2014, in Washington.
The same day she was released from a high-level containment
unit for Ebola treatment, nurse Nina Pham gave Obama a bear-hug in the
Oval Office.
PHOTO: A protester stands outside the
White House asking United States President Barack Obama to ban flights
in effort to stop Ebola, in Washington.
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