Exploring New Models of Coronavirus Quarantine

The current one-size-fits-all model of 14 days hotel based quarantine undoubtedly served Australia well in the early days of the pandemic. Is it time to be more dynamic?

The National Review of Hotel Quarantine recently found that, based on better evidence about risk, it was now possible to consider additional models to supplement the standard approach to quarantine.

The review found that serious consideration should be given to the design of technological options for arrivals to validate their location. It found this would ultimately increase the range of options available and hence significantly expand quarantine capacity.

Specifically, isolation in the home (if suitable) and the use of devices to monitor location, including through smartphone applications or wearable monitoring devices (on a voluntary basis) was a core recommendation.

Given the potential for extreme outbreaks and the prohibitive cost of policing home isolation, a more efficient system might be to use technology like GPS tracking to identify a contact’s location via a mobile app.

An app like this aids compliance and can potentially save lives. If the app is used and fewer people infect others, lives will return back to normal sooner and the economy can ramp back up. Also, limited resources can be used to more effectively track the people who elect not to use the app. That way, people who don’t want to be tracked or set out to do the wrong thing are less likely to get away with breaking the law because the authorities can spend more time on those people.

This form of tracking can only occur with user consent. If this is not granted, then alternative quarantine arrangements will need to be made. The user controls and can disable tracking at any time.