Andrew Hall, Iram Qureshi, Jacob Glaser, Paul Auchincloss, Ramey Wilson
Author Information
Andrew Hall: Special Operations Command Africa, Unit 30401, APO AE 09107, B96 Medical Group, 307 Boatner Rd., Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA; 96 Medical Group, 307 Boatner Rd. Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA. Electronic address: andrew.b.hall14.mil@mail.mil.
Iram Qureshi: Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, Department of Surgery, 3698 Chambers Rd., San Antonio, TX 78234, USA.
Jacob Glaser: Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, Department of Surgery, 3698 Chambers Rd., San Antonio, TX 78234, USA.
Paul Auchincloss: Special Operations Command Africa, Unit 30401, APO AE 09107, B96 Medical Group, 307 Boatner Rd., Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA.
Ramey Wilson: Special Operations Command Africa, Unit 30401, APO AE 09107, B96 Medical Group, 307 Boatner Rd., Eglin AFB, FL 32542, USA; Uniformed Services University, Department of Medicine, 4301 James Creek Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
The initial response to COVID-19 included quarantine policies. This study aims to determine the infection containment proportions and cost of two variations of quarantine policies based on geographic travel and close contact with infected individuals within deployed US military populations. Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAF) records of individuals quarantined between March 1, 2020 and June 1, 2020 were examined. The infection containment proportion and cost in containment hours were compared between types of quarantine and between geographic areas. Geographic quarantine contained 2 cases out of 63 quarantined individuals in West Africa (3.2%) compared to 0 out of 221 in East Africa (p = 0.0486). Close contact quarantine contained 3 cases out of 31 quarantined individuals in West Africa compared to 4 out of 55 in East Africa (7.3%, p = 0.6989). Total confinement was 42,048 h for each contained infection using geographic quarantine compared to 4076 h using close contact quarantine. In the US military population deployed to Africa for COVID-19, quarantining based on geographic movement is an order of magnitude more costly in terms of time for each contained infection then quarantining based on close contact with infected individuals. There is not a statistical difference between East and West Africa. The associated costs of quarantine must be carefully weighed against the risk of disease spread.
