Australia and New Zealand are among the countries that have reduced the spread of coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Caused by the severe respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) syndrome, the disease has now infected more than 111 million people worldwide.
In an effort to reduce the spread of the virus, hotel-based quarantine was implemented as part of COVID-19 border control efforts. Incoming travelers need a 14-day quarantine period in a hotel facility to ensure they are free of the virus.
While these countries have been successful in keeping the number of cases down, researchers at the Department of Public Health, the University of Otago Wellington, New Zealand, and the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, for measuring the risk of failure when using hotel-based quarantine for COVID-19.
The researchers found a particular risk of hotel quarantine failure in Australia and New Zealand. The two countries together have identified 16 marked COVID-19 failures from a hotel-based quarantine up to 31 January 2021. Both countries also have higher proportions of infectious passengers, threatening both countries’ status in eradicating the disease.
The team recommends urgent quarantine improvements.
Quarantine based in a hotel
Many countries make hotel-based quarantine for incoming residents and travelers. New Zealand and Australia have been successful in eradicating community release of COVID-19. Although there are occasional breaches, they have been brought under control.
In the hotel quarantine, passengers and passengers must undergo a 14-day quarantine period at a government-controlled hotel facility. After the 14-day quarantine combined with a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2, the passenger is free to leave.
It is an advantage in converting hotels for quarantine purposes to use facilities that would have been misused at the time of the pandemic. There are international travel restrictions for both countries, so there are not many guests in hotels.
However, hotel quarantine can have disadvantages. These include living in shared spaces, the virus leaking from health facility staff, and lack of proper ventilation.
The study
The review, published on the preprint server medRxiv*, looking to determine if a hotel-based isolation facility is effective and feasible in mitigating the release of SARS-CoV-2.
To reach the conclusions of the study, the researchers searched official websites in both countries and for the eight regions in Australia. In this way, they can identify breaches and failures of hotel quarantine-related boundary control.
The team identified the failures using common types, such as the estimated number of passengers who went through the facilities and the number of advanced SARS-CoV-2 people who went through the facilities at the same time.
Don’t look for them
Based on all the tests, by January 31, 2021, there were seven failures in Australia, and once caused 800 deaths. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, there were nine failures, one of which caused a breakout of three deaths and lockouts.
The team estimated that the overall risks for the two countries combined were one failure per 20,702 passengers. The researchers used two types – the estimated number of deliveries per day and the number of COVID-19 cases.
“There appears to be a particular risk of hotel quarantine failure in these two countries. The wide variation in infection control practices suggests an opportunity for risk reduction,” the commissioners concluded. research.
“The use of other risk reduction would make better use of facilities in rural areas as they are less at risk from close connections in CBD hotels and inside a building detached from poor ventilation systems,” the council said. team.
The researchers concluded that, in order to significantly reduce the risk of an SARS-CoV-2 attack out of quarantine, the most obvious action is to reduce the reach or even stop people. from areas of high infection.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taxed many countries, such as the US, UK, South Africa, India and Brazil. The U.S. has the highest number of reported diseases to date, with 28.18 million cases. Meanwhile, other countries are reporting skyrocketing cases, including India, with more than 11 million cases and Brazil, with more than 10 million.
* Important message
medRxiv publish preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be seen as final, guiding health-related clinical practice / behavior, or be treated as information established.
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