Coronavirus quarantine should last until straight 30 days and not only 14 days or two weeks, says current studies. This was revealed when a man from Hubei province, China-- where the outbreak was first detected -- shown his Coronavirus symptoms after the day he was quarantined or for the last 14 days. What does it mean for people that have been quarantined and should we panic?
Study: Coronavirus symptoms may appear after 30 days not two weeks
The Novel Coronavirus or officially called as COVID-19 has already killed more than 2,000 confirmed victims of the disease. Over 70,000 people have already been diagnosed around the world that contained the viral respiratory illness.
One of the stringent health measures that the government has been doing to prevent its widespread is to quarantine all people that came from the infected countries. As advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, there must be a two to 14-day quarantine period for all people that might have the disease. After this, once the person did not experience any symptoms, the alleged Coronavirus victim should be able to get home and enter the country.
"It's widely accepted that there's a 14-day rule of thumb," Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, told Business Insider. "That's how long you have to wait to go back to your daily life."
However, two health studies explained that there might be huge misinformation regarding the quarantine process. There are cases that Coronavirus symptoms may only appear right after the standard 14 quarantine days.
WTF! Officials say Coronavirus quarantine should be 30 days, not two weeks only
A 70-year-old man that came from Hubei Province, China, visited her sister that was confirmed to have the viral disease. After this, the man did the quarantine process, and after 14 days of no diagnosis, the man had a fever and experienced the symptoms. On Feb. 20, he was diagnosed and was tested positive with Coronavirus. It was estimated that the man only experienced the Novel symptoms after 26 days since he was quarantined.
Another study published on Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) said that one of their patient's incubation period lasted for straight 19 days and not only two weeks.
Zhong Nanshan, who discovered the SARS virus, also published research on Feb. 6Feb. 6, saying that governments around the world should apply at least 24-day quarantine to all suspected Coronavirus victims as some people only experienced the said symptoms longer than expected.
Business Insider interviewed Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin; she said that "every day there are new estimates coming out for the incubation period."
CDC clarified that they are confident with a 14-day quarantine period
Though there are already confirmed cases of Coronavirus victims that were only identified right after the quarantine period, CDC said that people should not panic with this news and that incubation is the top priority in preventing it is widespread. Hence, they are careful about each of their steps. The agency clarified that 14 days is enough for all suspected victims.
"The incubation period is obviously really important for us as we look to make sure that we're releasing these people safely from quarantine," Nancy Messonnier, the director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on Feb. 12Feb. 12. "We still think that for today, for now, 14 days is the right interval to use," she added.
