Quarantine for COVID-19 its Laws and Limitations

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease began back in December 2019 as pneumonia without a definitive causative organism in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei province of China. This is the second pandemic that China has given birth to, the former being in 2003. Since the beginning of this pandemic, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that this is primarily a droplet infection. Studies have also shown that show that the large virus-laden droplets are the main focus of infection and the CDC advices to maintain at least a two-meter distance between people and personal hygiene. Although quarantine carries a paradoxical history, a virus whose predominant mode of spread being respiratory droplets can be contained by simply staying indoors. The strategy of quarantine has its own demerits. Unless carried out meticulously, it involves the mingling of individuals who might have been exposed which undoubtedly increases the risk of diseases transmission. This in itself, is an act of negligence by the medical fraternity unless provided with proper facilities. Restricting the movement of populations is also an essential part of a strategy which comes at the cost of paralyzing the economy. Hospitals and other institutional quarantine facilities open up all over the globe in attempts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Nevertheless, quarantine a strategy is a controversy because such a strict yet systemic approach can cause political, economic and socio-ethical unrest within a nation.