As the nation turns its attention to the Ebola virus, some Kansans are taking their stance on the road — literally.
“Getting quite a few honks from people who are on the same page,” said Michelle Hutchinson.
Hutchinson and her sister, Julie Taylor, spent Friday morning along west Kellogg. They stood by the side of the highway, showing off their take on the virus. They spoke exclusively to KAKE News.
“I just think people should be aware of what’s going on in our nation, and the non-action from our government is just ridiculous,” Hutchinson said. “And I know that just by looking through Facebook or social media pages or whatever that most of nation agrees that action should be taken now.”
The two would like the government to stop all foreign flights to help limit the spread of the virus, which has taken more than 4,000 lives in West Africa. They believe current regulation is not enough.
“So no, that doesn’t make me feel any better at all. I don’t think they’re taking the necessary precautions,” Hutchinson said.
“We just don’t need anything more to fight. Nothing unnecessary,” Taylor echoed.
Friday afternoon, Senator Jerry Moran issued a statement about Ebola. He’d like to see travel restrictions.
“While the Administration assured Americans that our public health infrastructure was ready to handle Ebola, unfortunately reality has shown we still have a lot of work to do,” he states. “All options should be on the table to keep Americans safe from disease, which is why I support travel restrictions on commercial airline passengers traveling from nations afflicted by Ebola. Travel restrictions will also give us time to make certain our hospitals are procedurally ready to handle Ebola patients. Coordination with the proper agencies to make certain that medical personnel and supplies can still come in and out of West Africa is critical.”
Though Mid-Continent Airport does not have direct foreign flights, Hutchinson and Taylor still would like to see change. They are not opposed to bringing back infected Americans in need of treatment, but they’d like to see some restrictions in the airline industry. They believe it has the greatest potential to fueling an outbreak.
“Because I know it’s killing thousands of people in Africa right now and the flights from there have not been suspended,” Hutchinson said. “They’re still allowing people from there to fly over here. I don’t want the US to be infected with Ebola. Nobody does.”