Corona Virus Disease 2019 pandemic and the role of Quarantine in containment of the infection

Abstract

The Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged as one of the most important global public health concerns and has raised serious objections towards the preparedness level and quality of response of health authorities to an infectious disease outbreak. Acknowledging these estimates and the fact that the disease has been spreading rapidly in different nations, it becomes an utmost priority to improve the quarantine practices prescribed under the International Health Regulations. It is ideal to implement such measures at the start of the outbreak, as it has a proven advantage of the introduction of the disease in the nation. The decision to implement quarantine should be taken after establishing suitable facilities with required provisions, presence of standard infection prevention & control measures, and presence of basic requirements to monitor health of quarantined individuals. In conclusion, in the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, quarantine is an important intervention to delay the introduction of the infection in a nation and needs to be properly implemented to harvest better benefits and effective containment of the infection.