Quarantine is a set of restrictions on the movement of people, animals and goods intended to control the spread of disease. It is also the term for a period of time during which individuals suspected of being infected with a contagious agent are isolated from healthy persons in order to test for the presence of the agent and confirm a diagnosis. It is distinct from medical isolation, which confines those who have a confirmed case of an infectious illness to hospital facilities.
While quarantine is a curtailment of civil liberties, it can be justified on the grounds that it protects the health and well-being of others. This is especially true when the threat of infection has been deemed to be potentially catastrophic and if the incubation period of the disease can be determined.
Nevertheless, the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that the use of quarantine is often flawed. Public health professionals must be aware of the limitations of this blunt instrument and ensure that they are continually refining the exposure criteria to avoid unnecessary quarantine.
Research on the psychological impacts of quarantine has revealed a range of risk and protective factors operating at individual, interpersonal, organizational, community and public policy levels. The classification of these factors was based on the socio-ecological framework, which considers how different levels of intervention interact with one another to influence a phenomenon. In particular, the need for tele mental health interventions to support quarantined individuals was highlighted.
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