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By Eric Bradner, CNN

updated 4:34 PM EDT, Wed October 29, 2014

President Barack Obama said states that are mandating quarantines for health workers returning from treating Ebola patients in West Africa are "hiding under the covers."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama took more thinly-veiled shots at governors like New Jersey's Chris Christie on Wednesday, saying the mandatory quarantine policies some states have imposed amount to "hiding under the covers" from Ebola.

After visiting a group of health care workers who'd recently returned from the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa -- some still within the virus's 21-day incubation period, but showing no symptoms -- Obama said policies like states requiring three-week quarantines of doctors and nurses who treated Ebola patients could harm U.S. efforts to stop its spread.

He didn't mention Christie, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo or others by name, but said he's "putting those on notice who think that we should hide from these problems."

"When I hear people talking about American leadership and then promoting policies that would avoid leadership and have us running the opposite direction and hiding under the covers, it makes me a little frustrated," Obama said.

His remarks Wednesday echoed similar ones Tuesday. They come days after Christie and Cuomo, faced with the first potential Ebola cases in their states, said they were imposing mandatory quarantines for health workers who'd treated infected patients upon their return to the United States.

California Gov. Jerry Brown's top health official announced a similar rule there on Wednesday, though the state hasn't yet had an Ebola case.

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Obama hits governors for 'hiding under the covers' from Ebola

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama's final campaign isn't turning into much of a victory lap.

His role in next week's midterm elections, which amount to the last important contest of his political career, has been to quietly rake in campaign cash for the Democratic party, rather than headline the stadium rallies he became famous for in 2008 and 2012.

The final week before the midterm elections is slated to be Obama's busiest, though the eleventh-hour politicking will only take the president to states that went his direction in 2008 and 2012. He'll campaign mostly for governors, whose role outside Washington puts them further from the unpopular White House policies that give Democratic Senate candidates heartburn.

The objective: turning out Democrats who don't have a great record voting in midterm contests.

Obama's celebrity fundraising friends

Obama's celebrity fundraising friends

Obama's celebrity fundraising friends

Obama's celebrity fundraising friends

Obama's celebrity fundraising friends

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Obama's role in final campaign

President Obama is trying to lead by example as he works to calm public fears about Ebola in the U.S.

Obama has come into contact with more American Ebola patients, and the doctors and nurses who treated them, than just about any other American.

For weeks, the president has repeatedly assured the American people that the risks of a widespread outbreak are very, very low. To hammer home the point, the president has gone beyond words, to hugs, kisses, and hand-shakes.

I want to use myself as an example, just so that people have a sense of the science here. I shook hands with, hugged and kissed not the doctors, but a couple of the nurses at Emory, because of the valiant work that they did in treating one of the patients. They followed the protocols, they knew what they were doing, and I felt perfectly safe doing so, Obama told reporters last month.

From meeting with health care professionals who have come in close contact with the deadly virus to hugging survivors, Obama is using these images to show the public that his administrations response to the Ebola crisis is working.

Obama greeted the first ever American Ebola patient, Dr. Kent Brantly, in the Oval Office less than a month after he was declared virus-free.

Pete Souza/The White House

PHOTO: President Barack Obama meets with Dr. Kent Brantly and his wife, Amber, during an Oval Office drop by on Sept. 16, 2014.

He then flew to Emory University Hospital to hug and kiss the nurses and doctors who treated Brantly.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo

The rest is here:
Obama Uses Hugs And Kisses to Ease Ebola Fears

Speaking after a Wednesday meeting with those doctors, Obama said Americans' actions are leading to significant gains in the fight against Ebola, but that these people require support at home.

"If we're discouraging our healthcare workers who are prepared to make these sacrifices from traveling to these places in need, then we're not doing our job in terms of looking after our own public health and safety," Obama said. "We can't discourage that, we've got to encourage it and applaud it."

Read MoreNYC Ebola doc 'lied': Report

Some states, including New Jersey and New York, have instituted mandatory quarantine policies for any health care worker returning from treating Ebola patients in affected countries. One nurse, Kaci Hickox, was critical of this policy after being placed into quarantine in a New Jersey hospital after returning from West Africa.

"When they come home, they deserve to be treated properly, they deserve to be treated like the heroes that they are," the president said of the health care workers treating African Ebola patients.

He also took an optimistic tone on the battle against the deadly disease, saying he is confident America will "contain and ultimately snuff out this outbreak of Ebolabecause that's what we do."

Read More Obama's approval rating on Wall Street: 17%

"Because of the leadership that we've shown on the ground, the mood in Liberia has changedpeople have a greater sense of confidence that this can be dealt with," the president said.

Obama was introduced by Dr. Kent Brantly, who survived the disease after contracting it in West Africa.

Read more from the original source:
Obama pushes against mandatory Ebola quarantines

Speaking after a Wednesday meeting with those doctors, Obama said Americans' actions are leading to significant gains in the fight against Ebola, but that these people require support at home.

"If we're discouraging our healthcare workers who are prepared to make these sacrifices from traveling to these places in need, then we're not doing our job in terms of looking after our own public health and safety," Obama said. "We can't discourage that, we've got to encourage it and applaud it."

Read MoreNYC Ebola doc 'lied': Report

Some states, including New Jersey and New York, have instituted mandatory quarantine policies for any health care worker returning from treating Ebola patients in affected countries. One nurse, Kaci Hickox, was critical of this policy after being placed into quarantine in a New Jersey hospital after returning from West Africa.

"When they come home, they deserve to be treated properly, they deserve to be treated like the heroes that they are," the president said of the health care workers treating African Ebola patients.

He also took an optimistic tone on the battle against the deadly disease, saying he is confident America will "contain and ultimately snuff out this outbreak of Ebolabecause that's what we do."

Read More Obama's approval rating on Wall Street: 17%

"Because of the leadership that we've shown on the ground, the mood in Liberia has changedpeople have a greater sense of confidence that this can be dealt with," the president said.

Obama was introduced by Dr. Kent Brantly, who survived the disease after contracting it in West Africa.

Read more:
Obama on Ebola quarantine policies