COVID-19: evidence for 2-week versus 3-week quarantine

Preliminary reports suggested that this variant was up to 70% more transmissible compared with previous strains in circulation.1 In response, large parts of London and South East England introduced the strictest Tier 4 restrictions, where all residents were asked to remain at home, all non-essential shops closed and Christmas celebrations cancelled for many families in the country.2 This new variant had already been identified in other countries across Europe and beyond (including Australia, Japan and Canada).1 3 The Hong Kong SAR Government swiftly responded by escalating quarantine requirements for inbound travellers from 14 to 21 days, one of the strictest quarantine policies around the world (Table 1 4 5 6 7). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine duration and COVID-19 testing policies of different places To compare the effectiveness of various quarantine protocols, a study focusing on infected individuals and the probability of ‘missing' such cases under each protocol based on the evidence available has been conducted (Table 2).8 Serial testing on days 7 and 14 appeared to be the most effective with 91% of infected individuals identified. KL Hon 1,2; Karen KY Leung 1; Maggie Wang 3; S Zhao 3 1 Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China 2 Department of Paediatrics, CUHK Medical Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China 3 The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China