A funeral home owner in Columbus, Ohio, took to TikTok to recount a call he received that spooked him. The funeral director shared that he received the “strange phone call” from a hospital asking if his funeral home would accept an Ebola case. He added that the call had spooked him, confessing, “It kinda freaked me out,” even though he was not easily affected by things. The funeral director shared that although he had dealt with several communicable diseases, he was not satisfied with his knowledge of the Ebola disease, and he was not ready to risk the lives of his staff, so he told the hospital that they could not accept such cases.
In response to a TikToker’s question of whether the virus was in the States, the director posted another video, saying that he heard from colleagues in other states that they had similar encounters. Given all of this, he concluded that Ebola was indeed in the country. The funeral home director expressed concern that the alleged presence of the disease in the country was not all over the news.
Panic and Skepticism Erupt On The Internet
Following the unsettling encounter the funeral home director shared, many netizens stormed the comments with some expressing anxiety about cover-up theories, and others offering possible administrative explanations for the call.
Expressing cynicism towards government transparency, a user admitted that while they would usually dismiss such warnings, they were concerned the virus might be spreading without public knowledge. Another TikToker agreed, hoping the call was a malicious joke. A logical user suggested that the call could be a standard procedure to plan for a potential outbreak to verify which funeral homes could handle such cases. In response, a concerned individual wrote that they hoped the planning was already completed. A sarcastic user alleged that the government was intentionally delaying the announcement until after the World Cup to avoid financial losses. Some netizens praised the director for protecting his workforce, applauding his choice.
However, Reuters reported that stringent preventive measures have been put in place to curb a possible Ebola outbreak. An expert in serious communicable diseases at Emory University, Dr. Gavin Harris, shared that the United States was prepared to combat it, saying, “We’re not going to be able to prevent 100% of infections, but we certainly are the most prepared that we have ever been.”
While there’s no verified case of Ebola in the States, it is important that citizens stay safe and take precautions.
