The Obama administration on Friday rolled out more measures to deal with Ebola amid increasing criticism about its earlier response to the disease.
In order to coordinate national efforts, President Barack Obama appointed Ron Klain, who is best known for serving as chief of staff to both Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore, as Ebola response coordinator.
The Ebola "czar" will report directly to Obama's homeland security advisor, Lisa Monaco, and national security advisor, Susan Rice, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
The appointment, Earnest said, indicated the administration's "tenacious approach to an evolving situation."
Besides, the White House has decided to send federal staff to Dallas to help beef up local response to the deadly disease.
Two senior officials will be dispatched to coordinate and work closely with state and local authorities as well as frontline health care workers in Dallas in order to ensure the Dallas response is "nimble."
An experienced coordinator from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be appointed to ensure federal assistance meets urgent needs, and a White House liaison also will serve on the ground in Dallas to fulfill Obama's pledge to provide all necessary federal resources, the White House said.
Meanwhile, the Department of State said that an employee of the Texas hospital who may have had contact with specimens from Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient diagnosed with Ebola on U.S. soil and who died on Oct. 8 at a Dallas hospital, departed the country on a commercial cruise ship on Oct. 12.
In a statement, the department noted that the worker "did not have direct contact with" Duncan, and only self-monitoring was required when the worker left the country.
The department said it has been 19 days since the health worker, a female, might have processed the fluid samples of Duncan, only two days shy of the 21-day incubation period for Ebola.
"The cruise ship's medical doctor has monitored and confirmed (the worker) was in good health," the statement said. "Following this examination, the hospital employee and traveling partner have voluntarily remained isolated in a cabin."
The department said it is working with the cruise line to safely bring them back to the United States out of an abundance of caution.
. government's Ebola response has drawn criticism from the public, health care workers and politicians, particularly since two nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for Duncan were diagnosed with the deadly disease.
Duncan went to the hospital on Sept. 25, with Ebola-like symptoms, only to be dismissed with antibiotics. He was transported to the hospital by ambulance on Sept. 28 as his condition worsened. He then tested positive for Ebola two days later and died on Oct. 8.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Texas health officials were particularly criticized for their mishandling of the public health crisis, which critics said has undermined public trust and led to panic among the public.
In response, the Texas hospital on Thursday night issued a statement, saying its workers followed proper safety protocols and shifting some blames to the CDC.
"The CDC guidelines changed frequently, and those changes were frustrating to them (health workers) and to management. Nonetheless, they endeavored to remain compliant with what was communicated as the most recent and appropriate guideline," the statement said.
The Ebola disease has killed 4,555 people since the world's worst outbreak on record began in West Africa in March, with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone being the worst-hit countries, the World Health Organization said in a report on Friday.