Amidst fierce opposition towards his strict new mandatory Ebola quarantine policy, New York state governor Andrew Cuomo explained that the 21-day quarantine period for those who had contact with Ebola-infected persons can be spent at home.

"It's a home quarantine but it is a mandatory quarantine," Cuomo explained during a press conference held on Sunday evening together with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

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During the quarantine period, medical workers will be checking on those who have been placed in home quarantine twice a day to monitor their health and temperature.

According to Cuomo, people under quarantine who show symptoms of Ebola will immediately be transferred to a medical facility in order to avoid further spread of the virus to their housemates.

Furthermore, Cuomo said the policy could be "the safest protocol in the U.S." which "should give people tremendous comfort."

The regulations apply everyone, not only to medical workers returning from Ebola-stricken countries in West Africa.

Cuomo also explained that medical workers under quarantine after caring for Ebola patients will be compensated by the state if they are not paid by their employers during the 21-day period.

However, several lawyers still deem the newly modified policy flawed, citing that it violates Americans' civil rights to live and work.

Steven Hyman, a lawyer for a New Jersey woman who was put under quarantine upon her arrival in the country from West Africa, has stated that unless there is an actual medical basis for placing an individual in quarantine, authorities don't have the right to do so.

The woman's lawyers threatened to file a lawsuit to have her freed from the mandatory quarantine and will file a constitutional challenge to the recently imposed state restrictions.

Tagsquarantine, New Jersey, state, Governor, medical personel, Virus, outbreak, restrictions