Understanding The Difference Of Quarantine, Isolation, And Social Distancing

Photo illustrations (Instagram / @ dudewithsign)

JAKARTA - The increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the world has forced the governments of each country to take various actions. The most extreme step is lockdown. Wuhan, China became the first city to enforce it. The city is the zero ground of the COVID-19 outbreak which is now pandemic.

However, the lockdown decision cannot just be done. There are several things that must be prepared so that efforts to suppress the spread of the virus do not attack various other aspects of life. So, outside of lockdown, there are various schemes that also often appear. Quarantine, isolation, and social distancing. However, do you know the difference?

Isolation and quarantine are public health practices used to stop or limit the spread of a disease. Isolation and quarantine are also used to protect the public by preventing direct exposure to infected people or people who may be infected.

Isolation schemes are implemented to separate sick people who have infectious diseases from those who are healthy. A person who is isolated usually has his / her movement restricted to help stop the spread of certain diseases. For example, hospitals use isolation rooms for patients with infectious TB or diphtheria.

Meanwhile, quarantine is an effort to separate and restrict the movement of healthy people, but it is thought that they have been exposed to an infectious disease. Hence, it is necessary to observe whether they are positive or negative of the disease.

People who are healthy but who need to be quarantined may be exposed to the disease but not know it or may have the disease but have no symptoms. Quarantine can also help limit the spread of infectious diseases so they do not become epidemic.

Quoted from the CDC website, Tuesday, March 17, the practice of self-quarantine began in the 14th century in Venice, Italy. Quarantine is carried out in an effort to protect coastal cities from disease outbreaks.

At that time, ships arriving in Venice from a port thought to be carrying a virus were asked to anchor for 40 days before heading ashore. The language 'quarantine' itself comes from the Italian word 'quaranta giorni' which means 40 days.

For the COVID-19 pandemic, several health organizations recommend voluntary quarantine for individuals showing symptoms such as cough, fever, shortness of breath. In addition, it is highly recommended to carry out social distancing to minimize human contact.

Apart from functioning as medical functions, isolation and quarantine are also functions of "political power" which is the right of a country to take actions that affect individuals in the interests of the wider community.

Social distancing

Given that the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted through droplets, it is better to avoid meetings with people through social distancing. Each individual must be within two meters.

Many public and private agencies have voluntarily canceled events and issued work from home mandates in an effort to keep the level of disease spreading to a minimum.

Perhaps, if face-to-face requires it, it would be advisable to only meet people individually, rather than as a group. Even though it was tough, some events that involved a lot of people such as concerts and parties had to be postponed.

And most importantly, avoid close contact with people who are sick. Because we don't know whether our body is weak or how contagious the person's disease is.