Missionary Returns From Libera, Goes Into Voluntary Quarantine
(CBS) – A missionary returning from Liberia this weekend will go into a voluntary 21-day quarantine because of fears about the spread of Ebola here.
Volunteer Dave Dionisi spent nearly a month at a 25-acre compound run by Skokie-based Franciscan Works, helping orphans whose parents died of the deadly virus.
"My mission was to set up a quarantine, and we had a group of kids, 30 kids, that were outside and desperately wanted to come in," he told CBS 2's Chris Martinez upon arriving at O'Hare International Airport, where he received a medical screening.
"We checked (childrens') temperature three times a day. We went through the entire quarantine without one of our kids being sick from Ebola," Dionisi said.
Still, he was taking no chances. He's going into a voluntary quarantine for the next 21 days, at an undisclosed location. He's doing this, despite evaluations suggesting he is healthy.
He considers it the right thing to do.
"I will tell you. I'm so thankful I was able to go," Dionisi said.
He lives full-time in California but came to Chicago because it's where his organization is based. That group is now hoping to bring in donation to build a bigger facility for orphans in Liberia.
They say thousands of kids have lost both parents to Ebola.
