People have come to know that Kaci Hickox, the nurse who fought Ebola quarantines and is staying with her boyfriend’s family in Freeport, does not pose a public health threat, a relative of Hickox’s boyfriend said Tuesday.
Tom Wilbur, uncle of Hickox’s boyfriend, Ted Wilbur, acknowledged that the couple has been staying at his residence in Freeport since they left Ted Wilbur’s home in Fort Kent on Monday. Hickox, who treated Ebola patients in West Africa and then developed a temporary fever, came to Maine following a brief stay in New Jersey. A judge later overturned a court order that Hickox be quarantined.
“As time went on, people have come to know that Kaci Hickox is never going to put anybody at risk,” Tom Wilbur said. “They’ve been staying with us, but I don’t know her plans. It’s fine. People have been very nice.”
Tom Wilbur and his family own Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections in Freeport.
“We own a business, my wife and I and my son,” Wilbur said. “I just have no comment, really, other than people have been very nice and very supportive. I think it’s important for me to stay right out of it.”
James Hendricks, Town Council chairman, said Tuesday that Hickox has passed her 21-day quarantine as mandated by the state, so he can only assume that she is not a risk. Hendricks added that he has not heard anything from Freeport residents on the issue.
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