quarantine

Quarantine is a measure used to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, e.g. covid-19. It involves isolating a person (or a group of people) who, although they may be symptom-free and not testing positive, are suspected of having the virus. Typically, the person is left alone in a space – their room in most cases-, although quarantining can be done in many places as long as you are isolated from the rest of the population (e.g. in a hotel room, on a boat or in a house).

The word quarantine comes from the number forty. However, nowadays it does not have to be strictly 40 days, but the amount of time needed to prevent from spreading the disease.

Although the words quarantine, isolation and confinement refer to people being separated from others, quarantine applies to those who have no symptoms, while isolation refers to those who are infected and have tested positive.