Texas Ebola patient in critical condition

Story updated at 6:30 a.m. ET Monday, Oct. 6.

Thomas Eric Duncan, the Ebola patient prematurely released by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, remained in critical condition Sunday, the hospital announced.

The hospital released Duncan after he came to the emergency department on the evening of Sept. 25 after what is now being called a breakdown in communication between nurses and the attending physicians. He returned to the hospital and was placed in isolation on Sept. 28 after his symptoms worsened. On Saturday, the hospital announced that Duncan was in critical condition.

Late Friday, the hospital, which is owned by Texas Health Resources, retracted an earlier statement blaming flaws in its electronic health-record system for the failure to notice that Duncan, a Liberian native, had recently returned from the Ebola-plagued nation.

Meanwhile, health officials have narrowed their hunt for possible additional cases of Ebola 50 people from 100 identified as having direct or secondary contact with Duncan. Ten people are considered to be at “high risk.”

Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner Dr. David Lakey said Friday that no one on the list had developed symptoms associated with the virus, and that all of the people being monitored are receiving visits from public health personnel who check their body temperatures twice daily.

“Most of those individuals are at low risk,” Lakey said.

The four people who were in the apartment with Duncan remained under quarantine. Public health officials started cleaning the residence after days of delay while they obtained permits allowing crews to remove items that could be contaminated with the virus.