Quarantine might help control the spread of COVID-19 (search done on 23 June 2020)
Citation: Nussbaumer-Streit B, Mayr V, Dobrescu AI, et al. Quarantine alone or in combination with other public health measures to control COVID-19: a rapid review. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020; (4): CD013574. Podcast available in EN / ES / HR.
What is this? During the COVID-19 pandemic, some people are in quarantine to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus.
In this updated Cochrane Rapid Review, the authors searched for research into the effects of quarantine (alone or in combination with other measures) of individuals who had contact with confirmed cases of COVID‐19, who had travelled from countries with a declared outbreak, or who live in regions with high transmission of the disease. They also looked for studies of SARS and MERS. They did their most recent search on 23 June 2020. They included 4 observational studies and 28 modelling studies on COVID‐19, and four observational studies and 15 modelling studies on SARS and MERS.
What was found: The modeling studies consistently reported a benefit of the simulated quarantine measures, although there is uncertainty over the size of the effect.
Early implementation of quarantine and combining quarantine with other public health measures is important to ensure effectiveness.