The new coronavirus, the infectious disease out of China that has resulted in 3,000-plus deaths, has threatened to cancel major events including the 2020 Summer Olympics.
And if someone in the United States had been exposed to the illness, they'd be ordered into quarantine to avoid exposing others. What does that look like? We explain:
Q. What is quarantine?
A. Quarantine refers to the separation of people who have been exposed to an infectious illness from those who have not. This is mostly done out of caution because those who are quarantined have not exhibited signs of sickness. Testing for the disease is done during a quarantine.
Q. How does isolation differ from quarantine?
A. People who are isolated have not only been exposed to an infectious illness, but they have contracted it. This is a higher cause for concern.
Q. So where do these people go?
A. Often, people who are quarantined or in isolation stay home. But they also could go to a medical facility or another residence _ basically anywhere they won't be coming into contact with others. A woman in San Antonio who was released Saturday from quarantine before a test came back positive was staying in a hotel room.
Q. Who enforces the isolation and quarantine order?
A. Health departments, law enforcement, transportation authorities and health care providers.
Q. What if someone doesn't comply with the isolation or quarantine order?
A. They could be charged criminally, either with a misdemeanor or a felony.
