Quarantine
One of the things that has made this virus so hard to contain is presymptomatic, silent spread. If you quarantine as soon as you have an exposure, you’ll prevent any forward transmission, and that’s the key to break the transmission chain - Abraar Karan
image by: Philippine Star
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Quarantine has changed us — and it’s not all bad
... Although being on lockdown has been pretty grueling on balance, the surprise is that many of us have realized there are some things about quarantine life that are worth preserving. We’re questioning the very fundamentals of the “normal” we’d all come to unthinkingly accept — and realizing we don’t want to go back, not to that.
For some, going back isn’t even an option. Those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, for example, have suffered a tragic and irrevocable loss. Millions who’ve lost their jobs don’t have any work to go back to, and many essential workers have been working through the pandemic without much choice. Older and immunocompromised people are still advised…
Resources
CDC cuts the recommended isolation and quarantine periods for coronavirus infections
The CDC has also updated its recommended quarantine period for people exposed to the virus. It says unvaccinated people should quarantine for five days, followed by five days of "strict mask use." Exposed people who are more than six months past their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or two months out from a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, should also quarantine for five days. People who have gotten their booster shot don't need to quarantine after exposure but should wear a mask for the next 10 days.
CDC Updates and Shortens Recommended Isolation and Quarantine Period for General Population
Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to 5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others
Interim Guidance for Managing Healthcare Personnel with SARS-CoV-2 Infection or Exposure to SARS-CoV-2
In general, asymptomatic HCP who have had a higher-risk exposure do not require work restriction if they have received all COVID-19 vaccine doses, including booster dose, as recommended by CDC and do not develop symptoms or test positive for SARS-CoV-2. The duration of protection offered by booster doses of vaccine and their effect on emerging variants are not clear; additional updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
Another Covid Winter, but Our Quarantine Comforts No Longer Work
Our homes, and the refuge they’ve become, have worn out their welcome. And yet, here they are, waiting patiently for another Covid winter.
Remind me, what's the difference between isolation and quarantine?
Vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna within the last six months? Vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson within the last two months? Boosted? If any of these conditions apply to you, then no need for a precautionary quarantine after an exposure to COVID. However, CDC wants you to wear a mask for 10 days following the exposure and recommends a COVID test on day 5.
Until Proven Safe’ Review: Quarantines Then and Now
In combatting Covid-19, scientists, public health experts and government agencies have occasionally turned to history for counsel. Measures taken, for better or worse, during the Spanish flu of 1918, which infected nearly a third of the world’s population, have been particularly influential in the formulation of healthcare policies.
Why blanket 14-day quarantines may be causing more harm than good
There is nothing magic about 14 days of quarantine. If you don’t have symptoms five days after being exposed to the virus, your risk approximately halves. Your risk also falls (but not to zero) if you test negative, but countries where everyone in quarantine is tested are using the same fossilized 14-day rule as those that do not test. If, instead, we let people leave quarantine when their risk drops below the threshold we use to decide who should enter it, we can achieve greater safety at lower cost to individuals and the economy.
A History Of Quarantines, From Bubonic Plague To Typhoid Mary
The idea of putting a possibly sick person in quarantine goes back to the ancient texts. The book of Leviticus tells how to quarantine people with leprosy. Hippocrates covered the issue in a three-volume set on epidemics, though he came from a time in ancient Greece when disease was thought to spread from "miasmas," or foul-smelling gas that came out of the ground. With this new quarantine effort in the news, we offer a look at quarantine use — and abuse — over the ages.
Coronavirus quarantines will likely lead to an uptick in babies and divorces
Stay inside, they said. Don’t leave the house. Whether following guidance for those who may have been exposed to coronavirus or choosing to self-isolate to help slow the spread, people around the world are faced with managing relationships with family members and partners while in close confines for weeks on end.
Countries Try Shorter Covid-19 Quarantines in Bid to Boost Compliance
Advocates say reducing the isolation period could help combat pandemic fatigue; others warn the gamble could backfire.
Dispatches From Quarantine: How Young People Are Documenting History
"This is something that we're all living through, you know, and we want and need to preserve those little details, because that's the texture of daily life," Zapruder says of the excerpt. "That's the stuff we're going to forget 20 years from now."
Echoes Across Centuries Are Reminders That The Next Quarantine Is A Matter Of When
Until Proven Safe is not a hastily assembled response to the events of the past year and a half, but the result of many years of research. That might sound freakishly prescient, but Manaugh and Twilley make the case that disease and the quarantines they inspire have in fact shaped much of the modern world, from international borders to passports to trade and agriculture. "Quarantine restrictions, we came to realize, lie at the root of most global institutions and frameworks, preserved like a fly in bureaucratic amber," they write.
Here's How to Self-Quarantine If You Get Exposed to Coronavirus
If someone has traveled to an area affected by coronavirus, been in proximity to someone suspected of having the virus or develops symptoms, they are advised to self-quarantine.
How A Medieval City Dealing With The Black Death Invented Quarantine
The first state-imposed quarantine happened here, in present-day Dubrovnik, Croatia, an ancient walled city atop the cliffs of the Adriatic Sea. The first people to ever be quarantined — more than 500 years ago — had a nice view but not-so-nice consequences if they decided they had had enough of it.
How Long Do I Need to Quarantine if I’m Exposed to Covid?
The thinking on quarantine lengths is evolving. We asked scientists to explain the smartest current guidance.
I Have a “Quarantine Bubble” With People Outside My House. You Should Too.
Quarantine pods, or bubbles, are the combination of two or a few isolated households, making one larger isolated unit. Essentially, it’s a slight expansion of one’s quarantined family. The members of each household agree to exclusively interact with the members of the other households in the pod. The idea is that if one pod member is somehow exposed to the coronavirus, the risk of contamination is limited to, ideally, fewer than 10 people.
Life in Quarantine
Dispatches from WSJ reporters around the world about how people are living during the coronavirus pandemic
Lockdown, quarantine and self-isolation: how different COVID restrictions affect our mental health
It is now well documented that the pandemic has generally contributed to a number of mental health problems including stress, anxiety and depression. But what role do restrictions on movement play in this? And how do they differ?
Quarantine for coronavirus? Let’s make that unnecessary
The term “quarantine” means restricting the movements of individuals who have been, or might have been, exposed to a contagious disease. Although it is often used interchangeably with “isolation,” the latter means confining individuals known to have a contagious infection, usually as part of medical treatment. Quarantine and isolation can be voluntary or involuntary.
Quarantine has changed us — and it’s not all bad
Although being on lockdown has been pretty grueling on balance, the surprise is that many of us have realized there are some things about quarantine life that are worth preserving. We’re questioning the very fundamentals of the “normal” we’d all come to unthinkingly accept — and realizing we don’t want to go back, not to that.
Quarantine hotels: A history of controversy and occasional comfort
While hotels have often been associated with the problem of contagion, occasionally they have been treated, proactively, as institutions standing at the first line of defence.
Self-Quarantine? Isolation? Social Distancing? What They Mean And When To Do Them
As the number of coronavirus cases grows in the U.S., we're hearing a lot about how social distancing, self-monitoring and even quarantine play into containment efforts. But what do those terms mean, and when do they apply? We asked experts and found out there is some overlap and lots of confusion.
Should all contacts of Covid cases go into self-isolation?
As we move to ‘living with the virus’, it’s time to consider the balance of benefits and harms of asking people to quarantine.
The CDC says a shorter COVID quarantine is better than none
the CDC now says that individuals can choose to quarantine for just 10 days, and end their isolation at that point if they haven’t yet shown symptoms. This is based on the fact that most (though not all) people who are going to display COVID-19 symptoms will start experiencing them before this point.
The Moral Dilemma of Coronavirus Quarantines
A coronavirus quarantine is not easy. It amounts to two weeks of house arrest for a disease you may not have. Your fortnight of confinement is done entirely in the service of others, protecting them from possible infection. A situation like that causes two of our more primal and conflicting impulses, selfishness and altruism, to bump up hard against each other.
Travel Quarantines: Enduring the Mundane, One Day at a Time
Running a half-marathon in your hotel room. Hearing the sea, but not seeing it. Fixating on food. Here’s how some travelers passed the time during their mandatory quarantines.
What is “social distancing,” and how can it slow the coronavirus outbreak?
The difference between quarantine, isolation, and social distancing, explained.
Why Covid-19 Quarantines Matter: Epidemiologists and Infectious-Disease Doctors Weigh In
“One of the things that has made this virus so hard to contain is presymptomatic, silent spread,” said Abraar Karan, a global health physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “If you quarantine as soon as you have an exposure, you’ll prevent any forward transmission, and that’s the key to break the transmission chain.”
Would You Sacrifice Your Privacy To Get Out of Quarantine
The coronavirus has ignited the post 9/11 debate about security and civil liberties.
Your legal rights in a quarantine, explained
The truth is, your rights aren’t particularly well defined.
Quarantine has changed us — and it’s not all bad
At the same time, living in quarantine for months has offered some — mostly the privileged among us — a rare opportunity to reflect on our lives and, potentially, to reset them.
CDC
You quarantine when you might have been exposed to the virus. You isolate when you have been infected with the virus, even if you don’t have symptoms.
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