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Benefits of Quarantine
Introduction
During contagious disease pandemics, the goal is to do everything possible to control and eradicate them. The occurrence of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) since December 2019 in Wuhan, China, is severely affecting the lives of millions of people in addition to crumbling the healthcare and economic sectors globally (Wu, Chen, Chan, par 1). Markedly, the disease has a rapid infectivity rate (Mattioli, Sciomer, Cocchi, Maffei, Gallina, par 4). According to Wiley (par 2), there is no definitive treatment or vaccine to manage the disease, but restrictive measures such as quarantine and physical distancing minimize its transmission. Notably, quarantine refers to restricting the movement of people with no symptoms but had exposure to either confirmed or suspected infection cases. Additionally, quarantine can be done voluntarily or enforced by authorities such as the World Health Organization and applies to individuals and groups. This essay discusses the benefits of quarantine, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Benefits of Quarantine during COVID-19 Pandemic
Reduction in the Rate of Disease Transmission
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of confirmed and death cases continues to rise daily due to its rapid infection rate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (par1), quarantine is a traditional intervention practiced since the 14th century to protect coastal cities from plaques such as yellow fever and cholera. Remarkably, in the absence of advanced healthcare systems and knowledge about infectious diseases, restricting people is a vital public health strategy to monitor their symptoms and early recognition of cases. Similarly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous countries are imposing quarantine parameters to restrict people for 14 days at airports, national borders, and inland communities because current scientific researches reveal that symptoms present within this period (McCall, Nunan, Heneghan, par 7). According to a study by Schmidt, Davids, and Malinga (par 7), quarantine measures implemented during the COVID-19 period effectively minimize the spread of disease by 44 – 81% and deaths by 31-63%. Therefore, this measure, especially if accompanied by behavioral changes, is an effective strategy to control the pandemic due to its case-reduction benefits.
Reduction in the Workload of Healthcare Workers
The great people are not just the successful ones but those that selflessly serve others. Markedly, healthcare workers are at the forefront of preventing and managing COVID-19 cases and promoting the well-being of those who recover from this fatal infection. Notably, at the start of the pandemic, the rapid rise in confirmed infections increased the workload of health workers leading to a state of burnout and mental health concerns (Sasangohar, Jones, Masud, Vahidy, and Kash, par 1). In this regard, the demand for staff to manage the disease globally increased as the ratio of health workers to patients increased hugely and overwhelmed the health sector. Moreover, with limited knowledge about treatment options, health workers must be conscientious while handling patients to safeguard from infection. However, since the introduction of public health measures, such as quarantine, to contain the virus, the patient load significantly reduced and eased the frontline staff (Schmidt et al., par 7). Therefore, this program is beneficial to the authorities and the healthcare providers by reducing their workload and saving them from the effects of exhaustion.
Conclusion
Since the emergence of COVID-19 in China, the entire world is still challenged by this contagious viral disease, affecting almost all sections of the economy and development. Moreover, there are no definitive treatments and vaccines to manage the illness but rather the implementation of public health interventions such as quarantine to minimize the rate of disease transmission. Quarantine, a measure that restricts people who have exposure to the virus, is highly beneficial and proves to be effective in containing the disease. Markedly, quarantine measures significantly reduce the spread of the virus globally by allowing the monitoring of people for symptoms and early disease detection. Besides, it lightens healthcare workers’ workload by reducing the number of patients, therefore making it a highly beneficial measure during the COVID-19 pandemic.