How Travelers Around the World Are Dealing With ‘Voluntary’ Home Quarantines, To Help Slow Potential Coronavirus Spread

On his return from China last week, Dr. Ian Lipkin quarantined himself in his basement. His wife now puts his food on the stairs. He’s run out of things to watch on Netflix. At odd hours, he walks in New York’s Central Park, keeping 10 feet away from others. Lipkin is among hundreds of people in the U.S. and thousands around the world who, although not sick, are living in semi-voluntary quarantine at home. With attention focused on quarantined cruise ships and evacuees housed on U.S. military bases, those in their own homes have largely escaped notice. They, too, experts say, play a crucial role in slowing the spread of the new viral disease now called COVID-19. Most cases and nearly all deaths have been in mainland China. Around the world, authorities are urging two weeks of home quarantine and symptom monitoring for travelers returning from there. It’s the only tool they have. “We don’t yet have a vaccine and we don’t have approved drugs for prevention of disease or treatment of disease. So all we have is isolation,” said Lipkin, who directs Columbia University’s Center for Infection and Immunity. An expert virus hunter, Lipkin was invited by Chinese health authorities to help assess the risk posed by COVID-19. He did similar work in China during the SARS outbreak in 2003. “This is my second time in the slammer,” said Lipkin, who spent time in quarantine then. He will end his confinement Tuesday, celebrating with...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 New York onetime Source Type: news