According to health experts, the two strategies overlap.
Both self-quarantining and self-monitoring have one goal: To keep individuals “who have been exposed, or who might have been exposed, away from others as much as possible” for a certain length of time.
In the case of coronavirus, this often means 14 days or the suspected incubation period of the disease. However, patients may experience symptoms only several days after exposure.
When self-monitoring, you need to regularly check your temperature and take note of any signs of respiratory illness, like a cough, fever or shortness of breath. You also need to limit your interaction with other people.
For example, if you attended a company conference and a person that you weren’t in close contact with tested positive for coronavirus, you need to self-monitor. Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, added that you need to self-quarantine if you talked to the infected attendee or if they accidentally sneezed on you.
Self-quarantine is one level higher from self-monitoring because the person at risk of infection, even if they still haven’t experienced symptoms, is at greater risk of exposure. To illustrate, Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister, is self-quarantining since his wife tested positive for coronavirus after they returned from a trip to Great Britain.
If you’re quarantined, you need to stay at home and avoid other people whenever possible for 14 days.
Those who live with a family or roommates but want to self-quarantine must stay in their own room or spend time in a separate area in their house. A person in self-quarantine must also stay at home.
It may seem like the individual risk is low while the inconvenience of some measures is high, but taking these precautionary measures will benefit everyone in the end, explained Sharfstein.
Even if you don’t get infected, you can still pass the infection to your family, officemates or even fellow commuters on the subway. The people you could infect may then require hospitalization, which could easily overwhelm hospital staff already caring for newborns, those with cancer or the survivors of car accidents.
Even if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t a threat to healthy individuals, not doing your part can make the disease “a threat to the community.”
Stay at home, wash your hands regularly, and remain calm. You can get through a pandemic if you stay informed and practice strategies like social distancing....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...
