How To Make The Most Of This Quarantine

About Quarantine and Things To Do In Quarantine:

A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been exposed to a communicable disease, yet do not have a confirmed medical diagnosis. It is distinct from medical isolation, in which those confirmed to be infected with a communicable disease are isolated from the healthy population. Quarantine considerations are often one aspect of border control. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

The concept of quarantine has been known since biblical times and is known to have been practised through history in various places. Notable quarantines in modern history include the village of Eyam in 1665 during the bubonic plague outbreak in England; East Samoa during the 1918 flu pandemic; the Diphtheria outbreak during the 1925 serum run to Nome, the 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak, and extensive quarantines applied throughout the world during the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020.

Ethical and practical considerations need to be considered when applying quarantine to people. Practice differs from country to country; in some countries, quarantine is just one of many measures governed by legislation relating to the broader concept of biosecurity; for example, Australian Biosecurity is governed by the single overarching Biosecurity Act 2015. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Etymology and terminology

The word quarantine comes from quarantena, meaning “forty days”, used in the Venetian language in the 14th and 15th centuries. The word is designated in the period during which all ships were required to be isolated before passengers and crew could go ashore during the Black Death plague. The quarantena followed the trentino, or “thirty-day isolation” period, first imposed in 1347 in the Republic of Ragusa, Dalmatia (modern Dubrovnik in Croatia).

Merriam-Webster gives various meanings to the noun form, including “a period of 40 days”, several relating to ships, “a state of enforced isolation”, and as “a restriction on the movement of people and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests“. The word is also used as a verb.

Quarantine is distinct from medical isolation, in which those confirmed to be infected with a communicable disease are isolated from the healthy population.

Quarantine may be used interchangeably with cordon sanitaire, and although the terms are related, cordon sanitaire refers to the restriction of movement of people into or out of a defined geographic area, such as a community, in order to prevent an infection from spreading. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

History

Ancient

An early mention of isolation occurs in the Biblical book of Leviticus, written in the 7th century BC or perhaps earlier, which describes the procedure for separating out people infected with the skin disease Tzaraath. The medical nature of this isolation is, however, disputed. As traditional exegesis sees it as a punishment for trespassing one of several negative commandment, most notably Evil Speech. A more recent hypothesis postulates that the infected are required to isolate themselves in order to prevent the spread of disease (although the Bible does not imply contagiousness of Tzaraath):

Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Medieval Islamic World

The Persian polymath, Avicenna also recommended quarantine for patients with infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis.

The mandatory hospital quarantine of special groups of patients, including those with leprosy, started early in Islamic history. Between 706 and 707 the sixth Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I built the first hospital in Damascus and issued an order to isolate those infected with leprosy from other patients in the hospital. The practice of mandatory quarantine of leprosy in general hospitals continued until the year 1431, when the Ottomans built a leprosy hospital in Edirne. Incidents of quarantine occurred throughout the Muslim world, with evidence of voluntary community quarantine in some of these reported incidents. The first documented involuntary community quarantine was established by the Ottoman quarantine reform in 1838. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Medieval Europe

The word “quarantine” originates from quarantena, the Venetian language form, meaning “forty days”. This is due to the 40-day isolation of ships and people practised as a measure of disease prevention related to the plague. Between 1348 and 1359, the Black Death wiped out an estimated 30% of Europe’s population, and a significant percentage of Asia’s population. Such a disaster led governments to establish measures of containment to handle recurrent epidemics. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

 A document from 1377 states that before entering the city-state of Ragusa in Dalmatia (modern Dubrovnik in Croatia), newcomers had to spend 30 days (a trentine) in a restricted place (originally nearby islands) waiting to see whether the symptoms of Black Death would develop. In 1448 the Venetian Senate prolonged the waiting period to 40 days, thus giving birth to the term “quarantine”.

The forty-day quarantine proved to be an effective formula for handling outbreaks of the plague. Dubrovnik was the first city in Europe to set up quarantine sites such as the Lazzarettos of Dubrovnik where arriving ship personnel were held for up to 40 days. According to current estimates, the bubonic plague had a 37-day period from infection to death; therefore, the European quarantines would have been highly successful in determining the health of crews from potential trading and supply ships. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Other diseases lent themselves to the practice of quarantine before and after the devastation of the plague. Those afflicted with leprosy were historically isolated long-term from society, and attempts were made to check the spread of syphilis in northern Europe after 1492, the advent of yellow fever in Spain at the beginning of the 19th century, and the arrival of Asiatic cholera in 1831. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Venice took the lead in measures to check the spread of plague, having appointed three guardians of public health in the first years of the Black Death (1348). The next record of preventive measures comes from Reggio/Modena in 1374. Venice founded the first lazaret (on a small island adjoining the city) in 1403. In 1467 Genoa followed the example of Venice, and in 1476 the old leper hospital of Marseille was converted into a plague hospital.

The great lazaret of Marseille, perhaps the most complete of its kind, was founded in 1526 on the island of Pomègues. The practise at all the Mediterranean lazarets did not differ from the English procedure in the Levantine and North African trade. On the arrival of cholera in 1831 some new lazarets were set up at western ports; notably, a very extensive establishment near Bordeaux. Afterwards, they were used for other purposes. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Modern history

Epidemics of yellow fever ravaged urban communities in North America throughout the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, the best-known examples being the 1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic and outbreaks in Georgia (1856) and Florida (1888). Cholera and smallpox epidemics continued throughout the nineteenth century, and plague epidemics affected Honolulu and San Francisco from 1899 until 1901. 

State governments generally relied on the cordon sanitaire as a geographic quarantine measure to control the movement of people into and out of affected communities. During the 1918 influenza pandemic, some communities instituted protective sequestration (sometimes referred to as “reverse quarantine”) to keep the infected from introducing influenza into healthy populations. Most Western countries implemented a range of containment strategies, including isolation, surveillance, and the closure of schools, churches, theatres, and public events. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

By the middle of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire had established quarantine stations, including in Anatolia and the Balkans. For example, at the port of Izmir, all ships and their cargo would be inspected and those suspected of carrying the plague would be towed to separate docks and their personnel housed in separate buildings for a determined period of time. In Thessaly, along the Greek-Turkish border, all travellers entering and exiting the Ottoman Empire would be quarantined for 9–15 days. Upon the appearance of the plague, the quarantine stations would be militarised and the Ottoman army would be involved in border control and disease monitoring. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Ethical and practical considerations

The quarantining of people often raises questions of civil rights, especially in cases of long confinement or segregation from society, such as that of Mary Mallon (also known as Typhoid Mary), a typhoid fever carrier who was arrested and quarantined in 1907 and later spent the last 23 years and 7 months of her life in medical isolation at Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Psychological impact

The quarantine can have adverse psychological effects on the quarantined, including post-traumatic stress, confusion, and anger. According to a “Rapid Review” published in The Lancet in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, “Stressors included longer quarantine duration, infection fears, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, inadequate information, financial loss, and stigma. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Some researchers have suggested long-lasting effects. In situations where quarantine is deemed necessary, officials should quarantine individuals for no longer than required, provide a clear rationale for quarantine and information about protocols, and ensure sufficient supplies are provided. Appeals to altruism by reminding the public about the benefits of quarantine to wider society can be favourable.” (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Quarantine is hard for all of us

Most of us are no longer 9 who can watch cartoons for 10 hours straight.

On the contrary, we are so used to a busy schedule and meetings that social distance weighs heavily on our souls day by day.

But that doesn’t mean we should take it negatively!

Here are some less discussed ways to make the most of this quarantine. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Prove beneficial for society

It’s time to show interest in society. Talk to your fearful neighbors and give them hope on how sensible measures such as wearing masks, boosting the immune system, maintaining social distancing and cleaning with gloves can help defeat the virus.

Talk to your friends and family and spread the positivity. News of their friend’s death from the virus or the ever-increasing number of positive cases can hit them. Explain to them how grateful they should be not to be involved in this unfortunate fate. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Start a Youtube channel

Present your expertise in biological changes, your skills as a magician, your home medicine techniques or your talk about the current pandemic situation in front of an audience by making a Youtube channel or Podcast.

You could potentially build a large audience for your brand right now because more people are on YouTube than ever before. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Learn a new course or language

Are you one of those people who mark the top of their to-do list with a foreign language and graphics course but can’t get over it yet due to intense work schedule?

Use this free time to indulge in online French, Italian or Chinese language courses or free, fully structured Photoshop, video editing and calligraphy courses. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Clean the long-awaited clutter

We’re talking about all those wardrobes, different socks lying in the drawers and kitchen cabinets that are longing to be cleaned because you didn’t have time before.

While you’re here, why not ask you to remove all the unnecessary junk files from your laptop or Desktop that are self-installing or are too “old” to be used in any way?

Also, prepare your documents for future online application submissions or tax payments. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Start a quarantine journal

Only if you haven’t already!

Everyone will believe that the world is going through a historical stage, unfortunately, in a bad sense. But wouldn’t it be something memorable to say to your grandchildren when you’re old? (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Read books

It’s time to blow up your dusty bookshelf and start doing what it means with books: reading. Finish a pending book on Life Inspiration or start a gripping thriller. You can also consider e-books if you are not easily distracted by some of the features of the Internet that I cannot say no to (Youtube, Social Media notifications, Netflix Ads, etc.). (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Amp up your culinary skills

Cooking takes time. We all know that and there can be better free time than this!

Become a kitchen witch by learning new dishes, experimenting with different spices, making ready-made smoothies and cocktails, and getting ready to use multiple kitchen accessories to speed up cooking procedures.

However, be sure to wear a mask when going to the grocery store to buy supplies or order. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Earn some quarantine money

We’re not talking about exploiting the situation like stacking hand sanitizers or rolls of tissue paper! There are also ethical ways to make money at this time.

• Sell your old clothes, books, tech stuff on Poshmark, Decluttr, Ebay, Mercari and Depop.
• Freelance. Don’t open a new account (it takes a long time to find a job), instead approach someone who is already making money on Freelance platforms.
• Become a Delivery Man with Uber Eats and DoorDash. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Teach something new to the pet

How can we forget our furry friends in this difficult time!

A great opportunity to teach your pet cat and dog hoop jumping, handshaking, standing still, catching balls, rolling and spinning. Use certain accessories or DIY items to make the learning process more efficient. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Immerse in gardening

Do you always forget to water the plants because you are late for the office every day? Or do you forget to mow the lawn every Sunday because there are frequent guests?

Now you can execute all pending tasks. And not only that, you can make a new flower bed, an impressive garden path or a do-it-yourself waterfall.

Don’t wait, get the necessary gardening equipment and get to work. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Call your faraway friends, family & have virtual dates

We bet you’ll be doing this already!

Call and chat with distant friends that you rarely call. You can also have virtual dates with your spouse or partner who is in a different country than you. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Beautify yourself

Do you know that Home Beauty Solutions channels are seeing a sharp increase in their traffic as people use this isolation time to focus on their beauty routines? If you haven’t paid attention to your skin, face, and arms yet, do so now.

Apply face masks, get rid of dark circles, blackheads and excess body hair, make your skin glow, lengthen your eyelashes and nourish your hair. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Indulge in home workout

We know how hard it is for all gym freaks not to put on their pants and leggings, fill their bottles with juice, and not hit the gym to break a sweat.

But you can still consider gymnastics and other exercise challenges online. There are many Youtube quarantine workout routines and daily challenging mobile apps you can download to keep the body fit. Now is also a golden time to get abs. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

Spend time with kids

Let’s think positively; this gave us time to reconnect with our children, whom we had found difficult before.

Don’t let learning processes stop while their school is on vacation; Play games with them, read books, watch tutorials, make a routine for the day they get a gift for each new skill they learn, and let them go on a scavenger hunt to clean the house. (We know this is an ingenious technique!)

Quarantine is tough but it shouldn’t be useless this time. We are sure that you will not allow this. (Things To Do In Quarantine)

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