Relief was tempered by caution Sunday as the first Dallas-area residents exposed to the deadly Ebola virus emerged healthy from 21 days of seclusion. 
 
 For Louise Troh, the relief was wrapped in mourning for her lost fiancé, Thomas Eric Duncan, and their long-awaited wedding that never occurred. 
 
 “We are so happy this is coming to an end, and we are grateful that none of us has shown any sign of illness,” Troh said in a written statement Sunday. “Our happiness is mixed with sadness at the same time. ... We have lost so much, but we have our lives and we have our faith in God, which always gives us hope.” 
 
 But as two nurses who contracted the illness continue to fight for their lives, the waiting continues for 75 others who came in contact with Duncan before he died Oct. 8 and for the more than 100 people in the United States who may have come in contact with one of the nurses. 
 
 “It’s a big day for Dallas,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Sunday. “But really, my focus is on the 48 that are going to be free of monitoring and the two who are fighting the disease and the 75 who are still unsure.” 
 
 The midnight Sunday deadline marked the end of the incubation period for Troh, three paramedics and 44 others who came in contact with Duncan before he was admitted to the hospital Sept. 28 with Ebola. 
 
 And Monday marks the end of the peak 12-day period during which other health care workers are most likely to develop the disease since their exposure before Duncan died. 
 
 As the deadlines pass, new guidelines are being drafted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to raise the standards for protective gear for workers, to leave “no skin showing.” Dallas County is also working on plans for a new response team to handle any additional Ebola cases that might emerge. 
 
 ‘Faith, not fear’ 
 
 Religious leaders took to the pulpit Sunday to urge calm. 
 
 “We are praying for the two nurses infected with Ebola and for all who have been exposed to this deadly virus,” said Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas. “However, as Christians we believe that faith, not fear, should control our lives.” 
 
 The first nurse to contract the disease, Nina Pham, is in fair but stable condition at a special containment unit at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. 
 
 “She’s doing well,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is helping oversee her treatment. “She’s quite comfortable — had a long conversation with her last night. Obviously when you have Ebola, it’s a serious disease and it kind of knocks you out. ... But she’s in very good spirits as of ... [Saturday], in my discussion with her.” 
 
 The second nurse infected, Amber Vinson, was transferred to Emory University’s hospital in Atlanta. She has been listed in stable condition. The two nurses were among the first to treat Duncan when he arrived by ambulance at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. 
 
 Vinson began running a fever after traveling to Ohio to prepare for her wedding. Hundreds of travelers have since been contacted by the CDC and asked to monitor their symptoms. 
 
 According to CBS News, Vinson’s relatives issued a written statement saying they are “troubled by some of the negative public comments and media coverage that mischaracterize Amber and her actions.” 
 
 “Suggestions that she ignored any of the physician and government-provided protocols recommended to her are patently untrue and hurtful,” they said. 
 
 ‘Show compassion’ 
 
 Troh has been at the epicenter of the disease in Dallas, the person believed most likely to contract the illness among all those potentially exposed. 
 
 That she didn’t contract the illness is testament to what infectious disease specialists have been saying all along — that it’s not as contagious as the flu, and someone must come in contact with blood or other bodily fluids. 
 
 “It’s not that easily transmitted,” said Dr. Joseph McCormick, regional dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Brownsville, who helped investigate the first recorded outbreak of Ebola in 1976. “It’s not flying through the air.” 
 
 Troh had shared an apartment in Vickery Meadow with Duncan since he arrived in the U.S. from Liberia on Sept. 20. On Sept. 24, he began running a fever, and he went to the Presbyterian emergency room Sept. 25 when his symptoms worsened. 
 
 Although he told a nurse that he had been in West Africa, the doctor did not recognize he had Ebola and sent him home with antibiotics. He returned by ambulance two days later and was placed in isolation. 
 
 Troh was left behind in the contaminated apartment with her 13-year-old son and two adult nephews for several days after Duncan was admitted. Eventually they were moved to a private home in an undisclosed gated community to wait out the 21-day incubation period. 
 
 Duncan had come to America to marry Troh, with whom he has an 18-year-old son, Karsiah Eric Duncan, who is in college. 
 
 “We continue to mourn his loss and grieve the circumstances that led to his death, just at the time we thought we were facing a happy future together,” Troh said in the statement, which was released by her church, Wilshire Baptist. “Even though the quarantine is over, our time of mourning is not over.” 
 
 Troh thanked Dallas officials and others who have helped them and said they are praying for others affected. 
 
 “We pray that God will bring healing to all in our community soon,” she said. 
 
 Troh and the others were at the center of prayers Sunday at Wilshire Baptist. 
 
 “They are now concerned about how they will regain their freedom to live among us and be welcomed back into the community,” senior pastor George Mason said. “Let’s just remember this: Louise is one of us. She belongs to this community. She is an American citizen who did absolutely nothing wrong in this case. Through no fault of her own, she lost the love of her life, and they lost all their possessions. ... They have nothing, and yet people are blaming her.” 
 
 Troh still hasn’t found a permanent new home but she is making plans, he said. 
 
 “She wants to see her grandchildren,” Mason said. “And she wants to just feel free.” 
 
 Jenkins urged the public to be accepting as Troh and her family emerge from isolation. 
 
 “Let’s not be cruel,” he said. “Let’s do what this community is good at — let’s show compassion.” 
 
 Dallas’ Fire-Rescue Department was ready to welcome back the three paramedics who treated Duncan as he was being taken to Presbyterian. 
 
 “As a department, we have been in constant contact with our members and are anticipating their return,” the department said in a written statement Sunday. 
 
 Other hospital units 
 
 As the waiting continues, Dallas officials are working on proposals to handle additional cases that might emerge. 
 
 Jenkins said Sunday that plans are underway to give the staff at Presbyterian a break by setting up isolation units at other hospitals. 
 
 Procedures are expected to be announced early Monday. The newly appointed federal Ebola czar, Ron Klain, has been in Dallas working with officials. 
 
 Others, meanwhile, continue watching and waiting. 
 
 Dallas resident Tiffany Watters said she and her husband, Byron Watters, took the same flight as Vinson. The couple did not sit near Vinson on the plane, but Tiffany Watters said she sat next to Vinson in the airport waiting area. 
 
 They have agreed to isolate themselves, and they receive calls twice a day from Texas health workers asking for their temperatures. 
 
 “At this point, I’m fine. Next week, I can’t say how I’ll feel,” Tiffany Watters said. “I’m from Denver, so I’ve been snowed in before. I’ve got that attitude about it.” 
 
 Staff writers Melissa Repko and Claire Z. Cardona and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
 
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 DALLAS — At least one chapter of the Ebola saga neared a close Sunday, as most of the dozens of people who had direct or indirect contact here with Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died of Ebola, had been told by officials that they were no longer at risk of contracting the disease. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mr. Duncan’s fiancée, Louise Troh, who nursed him in their cramped apartment while he suffered from diarrhea and who was put under state-ordered quarantine, was set to be declared Ebola-free by officials at the end of Sunday. So, too, were the paramedics who drove an ailing Mr. Duncan to a hospital and health care workers who drew or processed his blood. And a mandatory quarantine was lifted for a homeless man who later rode in the same ambulance as Mr. Duncan before it was disinfected. 
 
 The 21-day monitoring period ended Sunday and Monday for nearly all the roughly 50 people. It concluded as federal health officials were tightening the guidelines for the protective gear worn by health care workers treating Ebola patients. 
 
 Two nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who treated Mr. Duncan — Nina Pham and Amber Joy Vinson — have contracted Ebola. Although officials have not determined how the nurses became infected, they have focused on the women’s use of personal protective gear. 
 
 In an appearance on Sunday on the news talk show “Meet the Press,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said new federal guidelines for hospitals would be issued requiring personal protective equipment that completely covers the skin. He said the previous recommendations had been based on a World Health Organization protocol designed for treating people in Africa and not for American hospital settings. 
 
 “It became clear that we needed to modify that protocol where no part of the body is exposed,” Dr. Fauci said. 
 
 At the Pentagon, officials announced that they were forming a 30-person military medical team to respond to any additional Ebola cases in the United States and “provide short-notice assistance to civilian medical professionals.” 
 
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 Continue reading the main story When Did Ebola Arrive and Spread at a Dallas Hospital? Timelines of the three people in Dallas who have been diagnosed with Ebola. Full Q. and A. » Thomas Eric Duncan Nina Pham Amber Joy Vinson Sept. 20 Arrives in Dallas from Liberia 24 Develops symptoms. Sept. 28-30 High risk period when Pham and Vinson were treating Duncan. 30 Ebola test confirmed. Oct. 8 Dies. Oct. 10 Flies to Cleveland. Oct. 11 Ebola test confirmed. 13 Flies back to Dallas. 15 Ebola test confirmed. High risk period when Pham and Vinson were treating Duncan. Thomas Eric Duncan Fri. Sat. Nina Pham Sept. 19 20 Amber Joy Vinson Leaves Liberia. Arrives in Dallas. Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Develops symptoms. Visits hospital. 28 29 30 Oct. 1 2 3 4 Returns to hospital. Ebola test confirmed. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Flies to Cleveland. Ebola test confirmed. Dies. 12 13 14 15 Flies back to Dallas. Ebola test confirmed. 
 
 Relatives of Ms. Vinson, one of the nurses treated, said in a statement Sunday that she had been cleared to travel by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before her Oct. 10 flight from Dallas to Cleveland, and by Dallas County health officials before her flight from Cleveland to Dallas last Monday. Before boarding her return flight, she reported her temperature three times, and each time was cleared to fly, her family said. 
 
 Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., had publicly stated that because Ms. Vinson was being monitored, she should not have boarded the return flight, although it later became clear that the agency had allowed her to fly. 
 
 “Suggestions that she ignored any of the physician and government-provided protocols recommended to her are patently untrue and hurtful,” the statement read. “She has not and would not knowingly expose herself or anyone else.” 
 
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 In a statement, Ms. Troh expressed relief that the Ebola threat in the Texas cases was drawing to a close, but sadness over the death of Mr. Duncan. 
 
 “We are so happy this is coming to an end, and we are so grateful that none of us has shown any sign of illness,” Ms. Troh said in the statement. “We have lost so much, but we have our lives and we have our faith in God, which always gives us hope. Even though the quarantine is over, our time of mourning is not over. Because of that, we ask to be given privacy as we seek to rebuild our home, our family and our daily living.” 
 
 Ms. Troh — along with her 13-year-old son, Timothy, and the two young men who shared the apartment with her and Mr. Duncan — were removed from the contaminated apartment several days after Mr. Duncan was hospitalized. They were moved to a residence provided by a local benefactor. Local leaders and Ms. Troh’s pastor, the Rev. George Mason, had been looking for a place for them to move but had trouble finding a landlord willing to rent to them. They appeared to have found a single-family rental home for them to move into temporarily. Their old apartment was gutted, and many of their personal belongings were incinerated. “What she wants more than anything else is to get out of there with those boys and, in her language, be an American,” the pastor said. “She’s an American and she wants to live her life and be respected because she’s done nothing wrong.” 
 
 An unnamed Dallas philanthropist plans to donate tens of thousands of dollars to Ms. Troh, the officials said. Michael Wayne Lively, 52, never met Mr. Duncan, but he rode in Ambulance No. 37, and that was all it took to drastically change his life for three weeks. Paramedics used that ambulance to ferry Mr. Duncan to Presbyterian on Sept. 28, but before it was taken out of service and decontaminated, they answered the call to pick up Mr. Lively. 
 
 Continue reading the main story More Ebola Coverage 
 
 Originally from Lumberton, Miss., Mr. Lively has been a homeless drifter in Dallas for years. After Mr. Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola, Mr. Lively was being monitored but went missing for a time, spreading fear throughout Dallas that a man at risk of Ebola was wandering the city. He was found, and handed a state-issued order forbidding him from leaving Presbyterian hospital and from receiving any visitors without prior approval. 
 
 The order — known as a communicable disease control order — was similar to the one handed Ms. Troh and the three others in the apartment. If Mr. Lively and the others did not comply, they were threatened with criminal prosecution or civil court proceedings. Officials said a total of seven people have received the orders in Dallas — Ms. Troh and the three others; Mr. Lively; and two community members. 
 
 All of those whose monitoring was coming to an end had been potentially exposed to Mr. Duncan before he was admitted and put into isolation at the hospital on Sept. 28. They have been released from monitoring in stages. At least 14 of them had been released by Saturday. Others were released Sunday afternoon and some, like Ms. Troh, were released midnight Sunday. A few others may be released after Monday, officials said. 
 
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 “It’s a significant hurdle for us to get over,” Mayor Mike Rawlings said. “It brings a little bounce in our step, because we know the science is working.” 
 
 The Ebola virus has an average eight-day to 10-day incubation period, but federal health officials recommend monitoring exposed people for symptoms for 21 days. 
 
 Dozens of others continue to be monitored. On Sunday, federal officials released updated numbers and said they were monitoring 149 people total, including the contacts of Mr. Duncan as well of Ms. Pham and Ms. Vinson. Most of those 149 are health care workers who treated Mr. Duncan. But some of them are passengers on a Frontier Airlines flight that Ms. Vinson took from Cleveland to Dallas the day before she showed symptoms. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said passengers on that flight, and those on Ms. Vinson’s first flight from Dallas to Cleveland, were at low risk. 
 
 Ohio health officials reported Sunday that they had been in touch with 153 people across 16 counties who might have contacted Ms. Vinson during her visit there around the time Ms. Pham was diagnosed, but before it was determined that she, too, had Ebola. None of the 153 had been diagnosed with Ebola, but three were under quarantine, the state reported. It was unclear whether the Ohio numbers were included in or separate from the federal monitoring. 
 
 At Summa Akron City Hospital, workers have been practicing their response to an Ebola case. In addition to planned drills, doctors said, there have already been two false alarms in which Summa patients believed themselves to be at risk for Ebola but turned out not to be. 
 
 In Spain, officials said Sunday that tests showed that a nursing assistant who had been infected with Ebola has no traces of the virus left in her bloodstream. The medical worker, Teresa Romero, 44, contracted Ebola after caring for priests who got Ebola while doing missionary work in West Africa. Officials said Ms. Romero must undergo at least one more Ebola test to make sure she is virus free.
– After weeks of fear, there's now relief in Dallas: Around 50 people who had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan before he was admitted to the hospital have reached the end of the 21-day monitoring period without showing signs of Ebola. The people declared risk-free include health workers, the paramedics who drove the Liberian national to the hospital, and Louise Troh, the fiancee Duncan came to the US to marry, reports the New York Times. "We are so happy this is coming to an end, and we are grateful that none of us has shown any sign of illness," she said in a statement released through her pastor. "Our happiness is mixed with sadness at the same time. ... We have lost so much, but we have our lives and we have our faith in God, which always gives us hope." Troh—whose apartment was gutted and belongings incinerated—is now trying to rebuild her life and find somewhere new to live with her 13-year-old son, the pastor says. "She is an American citizen who did absolutely nothing wrong in this case. Through no fault of her own, she lost the love of her life, and they lost all their possessions," he tells the Dallas Morning News. "They have nothing, and yet people are blaming her." Nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson are being treated for Ebola and are listed in stable condition, while some 75 people who came into contact with Duncan after he entered the hospital are still being monitored for symptoms. Officials say today will be the end of the peak period during which health care workers who treated Duncan are most likely to develop symptoms.