Nurse Kaci Hickox is once again generating debate as Thursday morning she committed what some media outlets are calling an act of defiance.
AL JAZEERA: "Nurse Kaci Hickox defied her voluntary quarantine for Ebola."
MSNBC: "Nurse Kaci Hickox defied her quarantine."
After caring for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, Hickox was quarantined in a New Jersey hospital and then asked to finish her 21-day quarantine at her home in Maine. (Video via NJ.com)
But she left her house around 9 a.m Thursday morning and took about an hourlong bike ride while state troopers and reporters followed in their vehicles.
Since she first arrived in the country, Hickox has been a controversial figure. From the get-go, she has fought any mandatory quarantine. While some have defended her right to do so, others have implied they would be more comfortable if she just stayed home for a while.
CNN: "No question people are getting nervous. Don't dismiss those people. They are nervous because they are confused by this and not because they are trying to be smart about it, I think."
HLN: "She may be OK now, but in a couple days she could present. It'd be better if she's at home than if she's out and about."
Some, like Fox News' Shepard Smith, say the idea of quarantining a healthy health care worker is completely unnecessary. Smith notes for years doctors have been returning from treating Ebola in Africa, and only now are they expected to remain quarantined.
SHEPARD SMITH VIA FOX NEWS: "I think one day we'll look back on this and wonder, 'What the heck was everybody thinking?' ... No one has ever been treated like this."
Doctors Without Borders, the organization Hickox worked with in Africa, advises against the quarantine of health care workers leaving Ebola-stricken areas unless they're showing signs of the disease.
State officials have threatened to get a court order to force a quarantine upon Hickox, as it's clear she has no plans to stay quarantined voluntarily.
HICKOX VIA WCSH: "I don't want to hurt anyone in the public, but I don't think this is an acceptable line to be drawn."
And Hickox has threatened to sue the state if it forces a quarantine upon her.
