Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

May 17, 2021

Seven-Day COVID-19 Quarantine May Be Too Short Assessing Post-Quarantine Transmission Risk in Four University Cohorts

Category:

Topic:

Keywords (Tags): ,

  • [Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A cohort study conducted at four US universities between September 2020 and February 2021 found that a seven-day quarantine period may not be sufficient to maintain a 5% transmission risk threshold, and that risk depends on the strictness of quarantine measures. The study compared “strict quarantine”, which included designated housing with private rooms and meal delivery, versus “non-strict quarantine”, which allowed individuals to interact with other household members. Among 418 individuals who were quarantined and who eventually tested positive, 11%, 4.2%, and 1.2% were negative and asymptomatic on days 7, 10 and 14, respectively. 6% of individuals tested positive after day 7 in strict quarantine, versus 14% in non-strict quarantine, which may have been explained by exposure during the quarantine period.

Liu et al. (May 15, 2021). Seven-Day COVID-19 Quarantine May Be Too Short Assessing Post-Quarantine Transmission Risk in Four University Cohorts. Pre-print downloaded May 17 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.12.21257117