Prognosis
Forced Isolation May Be the Only Way to Stop Resurgence of Virus
- New Zealand enacts strategy successful from Italy to Korea
- Controversial policy faces backlash from some populations
This article is for subscribers only.
Flare-ups from Australia to Japan show the world hasn’t learned an early lesson from the coronavirus crisis: to stop the spread, those with mild or symptom-free coronavirus infections must be forced to isolate, both from their communities and family.
In Australia, where Victoria state has been reporting record deaths, some 3,000 checks last month on people who should have been isolating at home found 800 were out and about. In Japan, where the virus has roared back, people are staying home but aren’t in isolation: 40% of elderly patients are getting sick from family members in the same apartments.