The Trump administration is preparing a quarantine facility in Kenya for Americans who have been exposed to Ebola during the escalating outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The facility is intended to provide faster access to care and avoid medical evacuation flights that can exceed 12 hours.

The move marks a departure from past Ebola responses, which typically involved returning exposed Americans directly to the U.S. for quarantine or treatment. The new facility, developed through coordination among the departments of State, Defense, and Health and Human Services, would be equipped to treat “the full spectrum” of Ebola cases, including those needing intensive or critical care. Patients requiring more advanced treatment could still be transferred elsewhere on a case-by-case basis.

“Time is of the essence for Ebola patients, and this facility will enable Americans in the region who contract Ebola to receive lifesaving care as quickly as possible,” an administration official said. During a White House Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration’s No. 1 priority is to protect the American people. “We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States,” Rubio said.

The administration has already begun evacuating Americans from the region. Earlier this month, Dr. Peter Stafford, an American doctor who contracted Ebola in Congo, was flown to a hospital in Germany. His wife and four children were sent to Germany and another doctor, Patrick LaRochelle, to the Czech Republic for monitoring.

Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, criticized the decision. “It is unprecedented,” Gostin wrote in an email. “It is likely to cost American lives. We have an ethical duty to protect U.S. citizens, especially brave health and humanitarian workers who have cared for Ebola patients. It is impossible to give high quality care to Ebola patients in Kenya, compared with our state-of-the-art facilities in the U.S.”

The Ebola outbreak in Congo has rapidly worsened, with the World Health Organization reporting more than 1,000 cases and over 200 deaths. The strain driving the outbreak, called Bundibugyo, has a mortality rate of 25% to 40% and currently has no approved vaccines or treatments. Supportive care remains critical for infected individuals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has barred non-U.S. citizens who visited Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the past 21 days from entering the U.S. American citizens are exempt but are being rerouted to specific airports for additional health screenings. It was not immediately clear where in Kenya the facility would be built or whether Kenyan officials had agreed to the plan.