Quarantine is a highly effective measure to stop the progression of the coronavirus. Anyone who suspects they have been exposed to the virus should be quarantined, even if they have no symptoms and believe they are in good health.
At the moment, the most effective measure to control the expansion of the coronavirus is quarantine. There are no specific medications to treat this disease and there is no vaccine against it. For these and other reasons, quarantine is the best means available to prevent more and more people from exposing themselves to danger.
At least for now, what makes the coronavirus (COVID-19) riskier is that it is a virus about which there is not enough information. It is new and, therefore, it is not known how it can behave. In fact, all the data on how it is spread is not yet available. Thus, quarantine is the ideal way to control it.
What has been proven is that COVID-19 has a high potential for contagion, which is why it expands rapidly, as happened in China, Korea, and Italy. The mortality rate it produces is not clear, because while in China it is between 2 and 4%, in the rest of the world the same figures are not followed.
Isolation
The first thing to clarify is that quarantine is not the same as isolation. Isolation is a mandatory measure that is applied when a person has been diagnosed with coronavirus. Immediately this happens, you should avoid any direct contact with other human beings.
A person with coronavirus will experience symptoms within three to six weeks, during which time they should be totally isolated from those around them. The best thing is that, if the affected person lives with more people, they stay somewhere else while the disease is remission.
If this is not possible, it is advisable to isolate the patient in a room and not have contact with him. You must have a bathroom for exclusive use and not share dishes, cutlery or bedding or any utensil. Those around you should wear specialized masks. In severe cases, the patient should be transported to the hospital in an ambulance, not by other means of transport.
The coronavirus quarantine
Quarantine is a measure that is applied to people who do not have the disease, but who have come into contact with someone who does, or who suspect they have. It applies to those who have traveled to places where there are clear outbreaks of coronavirus.
It is not necessary for a person to have symptoms of quarantine. The mere suspicion of contact with patients is sufficient to undergo quarantine since the virus has different incubation periods and does not always generate visible symptoms.
In these cases, it is very dangerous not to take it seriously. The greatest risk is concentrated in those who have been exposed to COVID-19 and decide not to take precautionary measures because they feel very healthy. They can have the virus and spread it to people who are highly vulnerable, putting their lives at risk.
How to quarantine
The word quarantine is used generically, but it does not mean that it always equals 40 days. In the case of coronavirus, it is advisable that, upon suspicion of contact with infected people, and in the absence of symptoms, there should be an isolation of two weeks, that is, 14 days.
The vast majority of cases manifest in this period. Although on some occasions the first symptoms appear in a few hours, and in others, they do so after two weeks, these particularities correspond to a minority. So 14 days is a period that guarantees a minimum risk of contagion.
It must be remembered that the mere fact of having been less than 1 or 2 meters away from an infected person can lead to contagion. So it is not required to have been in China or Italy, but simply to have had contact with people who were there, or who have presented symptoms of the disease.
According to the latest official data, there are more than 120,000 cases in more than 100 countries around the world. So far, 3 158 people have died from this disease. The potential for expansion is very high because even in areas where there are still few cases, such as Latin America, the increase in the disease has been very significant.