A beaming Dr. Craig Spencer earned hugs Tuesday from Mayor de Blasio and the city’s First Lady before the Ebola-free physician headed home after 20 days in Bellevue Hospital.  “Today I am healthy and no longer infectious,” said Spencer, reading from a short statement. “Since I was admitted on Oct. 23 I have received an exceptional level of medical care, support and encouragement.”  Spencer immediately returned to his Harlem apartment for the first time in nearly three weeks, walking silently inside past a horde of reporters at 11:20 a.m.  The doctor, with his clean bill of health, was driven home in a black Toyota Prius with tinted windows and a police escort. He was followed into the W. 147th St. building by his parents, who attended the Bellevue event.  Spencer shares the apartment with his fiancée Morgan Dixon, who was kept until quarantine at their Harlem home.  At the news conference, Spencer recounted details of his work with the afflicted in West Africa and praised his colleagues from Doctors Without Borders.  “I cried as I held children who were not strong enough to survive,” the doctor said. Other patients who recovered from Ebola reached out when word of Spencer’s infection reached West Africa.  “Within a week of my diagnosis, many of these same patients called my personal cellphone to wish me well,” he said.  Spencer announced he would have no public comment on his infection, diagnosis and treatment beyond the statement made Tuesday morning.  While Spencer’s comments was somewhat tempered, the mayor and other officials were clearly delighted by his release.  “Today is a joyous day for all of us,” said Sophie Delaunay, executive director of Doctors Without Borders.  De Blasio and wife Chirlane McCray greeted Spencer with big hugs before the news conference kicked off.  “It is a good feeling to hug a hero, and we have a hero here in our midst,” de Blasio declared at a news conference.  “He has been an inspiration throughout the challenges that he met,” the mayor said. “Dr. Spencer showed us what it means to help your fellow humans.”  Spencer, 33, a volunteer for Doctors Without Borders, stood alongside the mayor 20 days after he was rushed to Bellevue in a specially equipped ambulance after showing symptoms of the often-fatal virus.  The 25 nurses who treated Spencer, wearing blue and white scrubs, stood in a row behind the speakers at the podium. They entered beaming to applause from other hospital workers.  He also hugged Bellevue Associate Chief of Medicine Dr. Laura Evans, who oversaw his treatment.  Spencer walked out to wild applause side by side with the mayor and First Lady. A happy and relieved Spencer clasped hands, hugged and high-fived with the nurses.  The Health Department announced Monday that he tested negative for Ebola after the treatment. His diagnosis and release means there are currently zero Ebola patients under treatment in the United States.  “We’re so thrilled that Dr. Spencer is well,” said de Blasio.  He departed Guinea on Oct. 14 after nearly a month of treating Ebola patients in the West African nation. He arrived at Kennedy Airport on Oct 17 and returned to his Harlem apartment.  Within four days, he was experiencing fatigue — but none of the other symptoms. That changed on Oct. 23, when he developed a low-grade fever and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital.  Spencer, 33, was quickly diagnosed and spent the next 20 days quarantined in a special infection disease room unit at Bellevue.  The infected doctor created a furor when New Yorkers learned that he rode three subway lines, ordered in a Manhattan restaurant and a nearby coffee shop, and visited a Brooklyn bowling alley.
Dr. Craig Spencer was hugged by Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray before being discharged from Bellevue Hospital Wednesday.